Cats Don't Eat Fishes
by chibi-emily
Summary: Random, whimsical love, like I'm sure here in the Fruits Basket department we're all used to. But this might house some ... well, you'll have to read to find out :3 rated for language. Mostly because of Kyo xD
1. A Question for KyonChan

Chapter summary: unlikely questions unfold. A normal day at school starts the ball rolling for some rather out-of-the-ordinary occurrences. Friendships may even be tried.

Author comments: there are lots of comments I'd like to make, but for the sake of not revealing anything too soon, I'll refrain. You get to hear my reasons for writing the story later

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. I'm sure you're all shocked. No, I'm just a nerd that's fanatic enough to make up more to the Fruits Basket story. Just like most of the people on here ;3

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Another day. Another slow, boring, uneventful day. One of the fan girls had tripped in the hall, and Uo had a laugh about that, but really, that's about all that's happened. Tohru was of course still cheery as ever, and there was no doubt that despite the normalcy, she was having a blast, as always.

"Tohru."

"Eh?" The girl blinked up from her paper to look to Hana, who now stood beside her, gazing calmly down.

"Have you seen Arisa?" Tohru blinked around the room, then shrugged.

"No... I mean, I saw her earlier to day, but I guess... she must've gone home sick?" Hana's deep eyes glanced to the side, at nothing in particular. Electric signals pulsated throughout the building, allowing Hana to read them, and the psychic girl shook her head.

"No, she's in the building. Shall we go look for her?"

"No-you go on ahead. I really want to work on this. I'm sure she'll wander in before class starts, though."

"Alright. I'll be back before the bell. Hopefully with Arisa." With that, the girl calmly walked off towards the door, her skirt dramatically billowing out behind her. "Although, now that I think of it..." her head tilted to the side as she shut the door behind her, and her eyes scanned the empty hall. "Kyo was absent as well. I hope they haven't done something foolish." The girl eloquently slipped her braid behind her shoulder and started down the hall, following the familiar signals of her companion.

-/-/-

"WHAT!" Kyo's face was flushed; he was pissed, frustrated, and speechless. Arisa coolly held back her bangs and grinned at the boy. She loved getting that reaction from him.

"I said I think we should go out some time."

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, YANKEE! I HATE YOUR GUTS!"

"Whatever."

Arisa shook her head and released the bangs, though she still grinned. It made Kyo even more pissed that he couldn't tell if she was joking around with him or what.

"Screw it, I'm going to class. We're both gonna be late if we hang around out here too long."

"Suit yourself." The blond turned and stepped to the side to let the carrot-top storm past, muttering obscenities to himself. The boy had long gone when Hana finally stepped out from behind the corner, blinking, and for once in her life looking perplexed.

"Arisa."

"hm?" the blond turned around, still grinning mischievously.

"You weren't joking."

"Heh, no. And neither was orangetop. You saw him, right? He was totally red!" she laughed playfully, while her friend just blinked.

"You know, Arisa, I can't say I've ever been in love, but I do have a sense about me, that tells me that Kyo is more interested in Tohru, to put it bluntly. I would have thought this would be obvious to you, as well."

"What?" Suddenly Uo's grin left and she looked as pissed as Kyo was just a moment before.

"Kyo - and Tohru." Hana repeated matter-of-factly. "I believe that they might-"

"That stupid orangetop cant have Tohru! She's too good for him!" Once again, Hana was confused beyond words.

"And, yourself, Arisa...?" the grin returned as suddenly as it had left, and she tactfully swept her hand under her bangs.

"Well, actually, I think he's just my type."

"You have no sense of logic, Arisa." Hana shook her head, but could say nothing more. Arisa just laughed.

"Just try not to think about it, Hana." Sighing, Hana shook her head again and started calmly back for the classroom.

"Come on, Arisa. Kyo _was_ right, that we're going to be late."

"We are not." the blonde still laughed while she followed behind her friend. "besides, it was worth it just for the look on his face! Priceless!"

-/-/-

"Where were you?" Yuki barked at his cousin when the orange-haired cat came loping into class, his face disgruntled, cheeks red, and fists stuffed deep in his pockets.

"None of your business, rat." Yuki glared, but said nothing.

"Oh, hi, Kyo!" Tohru looked up from her paper and raised a hand in greeting, while Kyo gave her a barely recognizable grunt on his way past. Tohru interpreted it as a friendly hello, and smiled as she looked back down to her paper. Yuki sighed and took his seat.

"Amazing." Hana blinked around the classroom, taking note that the teacher had yet to show and the bell had yet to ring.

"See?" Arisa grinned at her. "I told you we wouldn't be late." then she flashed a smirk to orange top, who twinged and looked to the window, then she cheerfully took her seat.

"Welcome back Hana, Uo."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Tohru." Uo took Tohru's head into a playful hug, though she released her soon after.

"Where'd you go?" Tohru asked innocently. Arisa shrugged, shooting a very brief sneer to Hana to make sure she didn't spill the beans. The green haired girl closed her eyes and tilted her head to refrain from saying anything. Tohru, of course, didn't catch any of it, and watched Uo, waiting anxiously for her reply.

"For a walk. Today has been so _boring_ I didn't think I could take another conventional fight with orangetop over there."

"SHUT YER MOUTH, YANKEE!"

"Actually, it's impressive that he heard that." Hana remarked softly and looked to the orange-haired boy on the other side of the room, but Arisa and Tohru ignored her.

"What about you? You've been intent on this paper all day - what is it?" she reached for the paper under Tohru's arm, and at first the brown-haired girl protected it, but with a begging glance from Uo, she let the blonde slip it out.

It was a regular sheet of notebook paper, the words 'Once upon a time there was a girl named Shiori and she really liked cows but one day all the cows disappeared and she was very sad so she cried' written at the top of the page. Arisa blinked, and tried to stop herself from laughing. Tohru quickly snatched it back and looked dejectedly at the paper.

"Oh, it's horrible, I know. I'm no good at this!" With a sigh she put her head down on the desk and let her arms hang limp by her sides. Uo lost it and broke out laughing, while Hana put her hand on the girl's shoulder reassuringly.

"Nonsense, Tohru. It's a very beautiful start to a story." She lied very well. Tohru blinked and looked up.

"Really, you think so?"

"Hana, I don't think we should lead her on," Uo regained enough composure to speak. Hana sighed and shook her head.

"Our Tohru can write just as wonderfully as she wants to, Arisa. It's rude to say otherwise. Now, Tohru," she looked back to her brunette friend, who blinked between Arisa and Saki, unsure who to believe, "May I ask what inspired you to write a story? I don't believe you ever felt compelled to novelize before."

"Shigure asked me to," she replied cheerfully, then imitated Shigure in a lower voice, "I'd like to see you write a story, Tohru, he said, I think you'd make for a wonderfully creative person, if you gave it a shot." She paused and looked at the paper again, her cheerfulness quickly dissipating. "Oh, but I'm horrible at it, Hana!"

"I'll say," Arisa remarked, earning a death-glare from Saki. Tohru sniffed.

"I let Shigure down."

"What's all this babbling about that idiot?" All three girls paused to blink at the newly arrived Yuki, who apparently was just now able to dodge out of the way of the class's fan girls.

"O-oh, Yuki, hi!" Tohru greeted, her cheerfulness returning instantly once again. Hana slightly bowed her head, giving him a cryptic "Hello." Yuki glanced at Hana, and noticed that Uo was slinking away, but he decided it was all for the best. They were Tohru's friends, but he found they had a way of making him uncomfortable, so if one of them wanted to leave, it was fine by him. Of course, he'd generally prefer the Yankee to the psychic, but oh well.

"I get enough of that fool at home, why are we talking about him at school?"

"Oh, Shigure? I-its nothing, really. He asked me to write a story, and, well...it's not going very well..."

"May I see, Miss Honda? I'm sure its coming along wonderfully."

"Oh, well, um-"

"Please? I can give you some pointers. Although I doubt that with even my help it will measure up to Shigure's standards - there's no pleasing that man when it comes to literature."

"Well...alright...but it's not very good..."

She tensed a bit as she handed him the piece of paper, anticipating him bursting out laughing like Arisa had.

"Interesting premise," he nodded thoughtfully, surprising Tohru quite a bit with the mock-lacking comment.

"It would help if you used more sentences - this is a run-on,"

"Oh, right. I forgot about run-ons!"

"...I think Ill go check on Arisa..." Hana slid off of the desk she'd taken a seat on. She enjoyed reading just fine, but she was no good at giving constructive criticism. Yuki, however, was doing a magnificent job of taking Tohru's little run-on sentence and transforming it into a cute idea. They'd likely have five pages by the end of the day.

Hana would be just as content leaving them to their own devises, while she tried to satisfy some of her curiosity about Arisa and Kyo.

-/-/-

Arisa had slunk away over to Kyo, anxious to know if he'd made a decision - or at least thought about it more yet.

"So? Hah? Did you make up your mind yet?" She set her hands on the front of Kyo's desk, right next to where his feet were propped up on it. He hmpd and turned away, blushing a violent pink.

"Hey- if you do, I promise I'll let you win Rich Man, Poor Man every now and then,"

"What would I need you to LET me win for! I can take the game on my own, without your stinking help, Yankee!"

"Someone's a bit bitchy today," Arisa grinned at him. She was enjoying poking fun at his trigger-buttons.

"Yeah? Well the person I hate the most in this school just asked me to-"

"Don't say it out loud, dipshit!" Arisa bopped him on the head, making him wince and grab at his hair.

"Hey! What was that for!" Arisa glanced over to where Yuki and Tohru were happily chattering away over her paper, then leaned her elbows down on the desk and brought her hand up to shield her mouth.

"The fan club girls don't know," she murmured.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY-" He was quickly shut up with another bop to the head.

"You may not exactly be prince material-"

"HEY!"

"- but you _are_ his cousin, and they already hate my guts. I don't think they'd take kindly the notion of me dating Mr. Sanctified's flesh and blood."

"That's a load of crap," Kyo muttered, so Arisa sighed and gave him the real answer.

"Tohru doesn't know yet, either," Kyo blinked and finally looked her in the eye. He wanted to shout out another why should she care? but he realized Arisa brought up a good point. It was just that Kyo hadn't really..._thought_ about going down that road, not yet. And then there was Yuki to consider, too... Damn it, why did the Yankee have to be right?

"I don't want her to know until its official," Kyo gave her a crooked glare.

"What makes you think it's ever going be be 'official,' Yankee?" Arisa cocked a smirk again.

"I'll tell you what - I can give you all the reasons you want, but not with Tohru, the prince and his fan club present. Meet me after school and we can take a walk." Kyo was silent for a long moment, and if he really had cat ears, they'd be down and to the side, twitching like crazy while his mind went through a jumble of things.

He couldn't say _okay_ to Uotani. He hated her guts! ...Didn't he? He glanced at her again, the ears folded further back but no longer twitching. She _was_ pretty. DAMN IT, what did he have to think that for? No, damn it-

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" His unending blush didn't waver Arisa's grin, though.

"Whatever," she pushed herself off the desk and brushed back her bangs, "I'll wait for you by the door." And with that she slipped away. Kyo staid in his desk, muttering and murmuring, frustrated beyond belief with this situation. Goddamnit, why did girls have to be so fucking confusing?

-/-/-

"You've been standing here the whole time, haven't you?" Arisa plopped herself down on top of a desk next to Hana's. The green-haired girl tilted her head to the side and nodded.

"Sadly, yes. For quite a while, at least. I supposed that your affair with Kyo would prove more interesting than Yuki trying to make something decent of Tohru-kun's little sentence." Arisa blinked over to where Yuki and Tohru were still hard at work on her paper. She smiled.

"Well, is that so? ...Say, Hana,"

"Yes?"

"How would you feel if it was me and orangetop and Tohru and the prince?" Hana paused a moment, twirling her braid around her finger, contemplating the situation.

"I suppose I would be very jealous," she commented plainly.

"What about Haru? You've never had a problem with fixing your eyes on the younger boys before, have you?" Hana actually cringed with disgust, surprising Arisa a bit.

"That boy frightens me to no end," she said dryly, "His signals seem even stranger than that of Yuki or Kyo."

"Aheh, really?" Arisa rubbed at the back of her head. Haru was strange, she supposed. She had only meant the suggestion as a joke, though, and was a bit taken aback that Hana was giving it serious thought and serious answer. She wasn't done yet, either.

"Yes; his signals are always fluctuating; chaotic; shifting...almost as if every time I saw him...he was a different...person."

"Right. Hana? Now you've really lost it." Arisa playfully slung her arm over her friend's shoulder, her feet kicking back and forth under the desk.

"But, seriously, would you be okay if I went with orangetop and Tohru went with Yuki? Because...if Kyo says yes to me, I think Tohru and Yuki might get more serious with orangetop out of the picture..."

"Yes, I think they might."

"...So, will you be, okay with that?" Hana sighed and brushed back her bangs.

"...It will take some adjusting to. But in the long run I will be happy for you both. Don't make a decision on my behalf."

"So selfless, Hanajima," Arisa joked, "So like Tohru-kun."

_I wish I could be_, Hana thought, _I'm trying. _

Hana watched as Yuki and Tohru laughed together, no doubt coming up with some lamely adorable joke about cows and rainbows. They would make an excellent couple. Kyo and Arisa, she wasn't so sure about, but...it would be an interesting thing to see. Nothing but intrigue, Hana thought, could possibly fill these next few days.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

How fun. I have no witty comments. Because I'm just that uncreative. Now go, review and eagerly await the arrival of the next chapter xD


	2. Emotional Crap

**Reviewer Replies:**

Steeply333: 

yep, it's an Anime thing. I guess they don't really make references to Hana's hair color in the manga o.o it just never occurred to me before.

I'm actually a huge KyoxTohru fan, but when I was watching the anime, my first impression of Kyo's prospective love life was when he was fighting with Uotani over Rich Man, Poor Man, and I was like "Dude, they'd make a freaking sweet couple xD" For the longest time I just had the first DVD to entertain me, and that sixth episode (Uo and Hana come to inspect Tohru's living environment with the Soumas) I was just, wow, those two would be hilarious together! of course, when I finally finished the anime I was converted to KyoxTohru (I mean, with Kyo's other form and everything, how could you NOT? honestly...), but that didn't stop me from experimenting with my first impression, obviously

Lady Evilness: 

yes, I'm glad I'm keeping them in character! That's one of the hardest things about writing fan fictions, I think, is that you have to hold true to the original personalities, which means you can't always have the characters do what you want them to xD It means a lot to me that you think they're in character. If I ever start deviating from personalities, let me know!

**Chapter Summary:** Tension and deep talks. What will the Zodiac have to say?

**Author comments:** in this chapter there's a point at which Arisa calls Kyo "Kyon-Chan." You'll be seeing a lot more of that nickname in later chapters. I got it from Valentines Day. The girl who gave Kyo chocolates called him "Kyon-Chan," so I figured it was a fitting nick.

**Standard Disclaimer**: Once again, I am not the genius who first thought up Fruits Basket. I know, I know, it's hard to believe, but I can't let you go on in a misconception. I'm just the dork that makes up additions to the original, genius plot, which does not, sadly, belong to me.

Oh, and, by the way? You people are smart. I'm done with this disclaimer crap xD I'm flattered that you would think I was the original creator, but...sadly, that just isn't true -- Emily's always sucked at original stories...

Anyway. onto my not-so-original fanfic

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Just like she said, Arisa awaited Kyo's arrival at the school's main entrance. Hana thankfully covered for her and Kyo both, getting the prince and Tohru to walk home without their orange-haired friend that day.

Kyo walked up to her, mumbling, already glowing a light pink.

"Listen, Uotani," Arisa _had_ started to speak, but Kyo barreled in with his proposal, and Uo slowly started leading the walk, while Kyo continued to speak.

"I can't tell you anything today, so please don't ask. I...I _have_ been thinking about it...but don't read too far into that. I still hate your guts. I just...when you mentioned Tohru, you opened my eyes to something. A lot of somethings. Give me tonight to sort things out. I'll talk to you again tomorrow."

Kyo never once made eye contact with her, and he walked along slouched, his fists buried in the pockets of his school slacks. Arisa smiled calmly, but couldn't help being worried by his speech. He wasn't thinking that he'd prefer Tohru to her, was he? That would be...horrible. Uo had never been stabbed with jealousy before...she didn't want to find out what it would do to Tohru. Would she be able to be like Hana, and just be happy for her friend? No, Arisa wasn't a very good person. She could never be that strong. Her stomach reeled with fright, that if Kyo picked Tohru tomorrow, she'd never be able to love Tohru again. Could she even stand to call her her friend?

"Listen," Kyo's sudden command snapped Uo out of a daze, and she lifted up her bangs to look at him. "About Tohru...I think you were right, that we shouldn't tell her yet. She...might get the wrong idea, or something...I don't know, but just, please don't tell her, okay?"

"I won't." Arisa nodded. Since Tohru had to work tonight, she likely wouldn't see her until tomorrow, anyway.

"Okay," Kyo breathed a small sigh of relief. He was glad to have all that out and over with.

"So, I guess I told you what _I_ think about this," he sighed again, "You wanted to tell me about your motives or whatever, right? Well, go ahead, I'll listen."

"I don't _really_ hate you, you know-"

"Obviously,"

"You're just so cute when you're flustered, I-"

"_Cute?_" Arisa sighed. This wasn't going very well.

"You know, the kind of cute that girls call guys they're _attracted _to? It's not like you look like a _baby_ or anything, it just brightens my day when I see you get all red and angry."

"Well, that's just peachie. So what, you want this...relationship...to consist of me getting angry and you laughing? We're already doing that, Yankee, and I'd rather not go through it as an obligation to my girlfriend." Arisa laughed and shook her head, bringing Kyo to look at her at last, confused by the reaction.

"No, I wouldn't _want_ you to get mad all the time. You just seem like an interesting person, Kyon-chan-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Arisa giggled and brushed her hair back, and Kyo blushed crimson before looking back down to his feet.

"Like I said," Arisa commented, before continuing with her little selling speech.

"Anyway... I love your orange hair. It's freaking awesome."

"But you always made fun of it-"

"Don't you know girls flirt with guys by dissing them?" she laughed again, and Kyo's blush glowed brighter. She really did know how to get him flustered. How could she be so composed in a situation like this? He was insanely nervous as it was, and her little pokes of nerves weren't helping at all.

"...Kyo, would you be able to stand it if Tohru and Yuki..."

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I CARE ABOUT WHAT THAT STUPID RAT DOES!" Arisa giggled again, but the moment was over shortly, and the two of them walked in silence for a while, a sudden air of somberness hanging about them.

"...But you do care about what Tohru-"

"I NEVER SAID THAT!"

More silence.

"You know, Kyo, if you turn me down and end up taking Tohru, our fights will be a lot less flirting and a lot more hatred."

"WHO EVER SAID I WOULD GO TO TOHRU! She's STUPID and DENSE and REALLY annoying! I'm not interested in her at ALL, okay? Now can we please stop talking about her!"

Arisa was less than amused by this most recent outburst. He was still adorable, all angrily scrunched up and red, but the words that came out of his mouth here so...cruel. She knew he didn't really mean them, but she felt bad, as Tohru's friend, hearing them.

"Yes, she is.." Arisa carefully offered, "But that's part of her charm, isn't it? How cute it is that she hardly does anything right, but is always so cheerful about it? And how she always makes you feel better whenever you can't do something? She's always there for you, even if she can't directly do anything, her enthusiasm is enough." A smile curled on Arisa's lips again as she spoke, and Kyo blinked at her crookedly before looking down to his feet again.

"...Damn, Yankee," he murmured, "You sound like _you're_ in love with her."

"Hm," Arisa humored, "I do, don't I?"

The rest of the walk was in silence, and they both contemplated what had been said. There were heavy emotions that were brought out during that conversation, and neither one of them wanted it to get any heavier. Arisa was really starting to like Kyo's idea of talking about it _later_. She was, however, glad that he did talk to her. She thought that his willingness to do that, at least, as a good sign.

-/-/-

"Shigure!" Tohru triumphantly marched into his study, holding the two-paragraph story out in front of her while her face beamed with pride. The author looked up from his desk and pulled down the glasses that rested on his nose.

"Ah, so I see someone wrote me a story! Let's have a look-see," he playfully slipped the paper out of Tohru's hands and read it over, while Tohru discovered that there was a sobbing Mii in the corner.

"Um, Shigure-"

"Mitchan's fine. I just gave her the manuscript," he waved off in her direction, and the disheveled editor seemed too fazed to notice she was being talked about.

Yuki entered the room now, back from using the restroom upon his return home. The two stood awkwardly in the doorway while Shigure read through the story, his cryptic grin on, as always. At last he smiled more sincerely and held the paper out for Tohru to retrieve.

"Very, very cute, Tohru-kun," he smiled playfully and patted Tohru on the head when she reclaimed her paper. "I'm so very proud of you." He grinned at Tohru's ever-ecstatic expression, while the girl searched desperately for an outlet for her excitement. Yuki, of course was the closest thing.

"Yay! He liked it!" she squealed with delight, "Thank you so much, Yuki!" in her moment of ecstasy, she made one fatal mistake.

Shigure looked up from his book to that familiar poof noise, and as soon as they all three had taken in what had happened, all eyes turned to look at Mii. A deep sigh of relief was exhaled when the editor did nothing but continue sobbing over the manuscript that Shigure had been taunting her with for two weeks.

Seeing as they hadn't been discovered, Tohru quickly escorted Yuki out of the room, taking up his clothes with her.

"Sorry," she said, sweatdropping as she set Yuki down on the dining room table.

"No, it's alright. Mii didn't see. Even if she had turned to look, I don't think she would doubt it if we said she'd been hallucinating. With all Shigure puts her through, she's likely losing her sanity, anyway."

"Oh." Tohru blinked between Yuki and the hallway leading back to Shigure's study, where soft sobbing could still be heard.

Then a door slammed, and gruff, heavy stomps could be heard making their way up the stairs. Shigure poked his head out of his study and glanced just in time to see the familiar orange head of hair disappear behind the wall.

"Whelp, someone's grumpy," Shigure commented lightly before retreating back into his study. Tohru blinked in the direction, while Yuki simply sat on the table, sighing at the immaturity of his cousin.

"He seems grumpier than normal..." Tohru pondered, "I wonder what's bugging him? Ever since he came into class this morning he's been a little edgy...I'm worried about him."

"...Miss Uotani was talking to him a lot in homeroom..." The two sat silent, soaking in that thought.

"I wonder what they could've been talking about?" Tohru mused. Yuki just sighed again.

"Maybe you should go talk to him later. But I think he n-" Tohru squealed and quickly flung her eyes the opposite direction when the poof sounded again. She never would get used to them suddenly being naked. Yuki hastily donned his clothes and cleared his throat to let Tohru know it was okay to look. It took her a moment to get herself composed again, but then she couldn't help but giggle silently. Yuki blinked and kneeled down to her level.

"What?" he asked, honestly at a loss for what she could find funny.

"You, Yuki," she beamed at him, "You just told me to do what you thought was best for Kyo. You're worried about him!" Yuki smiled meekly at the notion. Inside he was denying it with all his soul, spitting insults at the stupid cat and poking fun at his short temper and immaturity. But Tohru was so happy about the thought...he couldn't bring himself to deny it to her.

"I...suppose I am. A little. It's just annoying to see him like that, really."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Tohru smiled vibrantly and giggled a little more, before Yuki stood and offered her a hand up.

"The weather's lovely, do you want to come with me to my secret base?" Tohru leapt at the thought.

"Always!" she cheered. Yuki matched her enthusiastic smile and headed for the door.

"Shigure, we're going out. Keep an eye on that stupid cat and make sure he doesn't tear down the house or anything." Shigure smiled and poked his head out from his study to wave to the departing teens.

"Don't worry, I've got Kyo under control. You two have fun! Bah-bye! Be safe!"

"Bye, Shigure!" Tohru waved, "I promise we'll be back in time for me to make dinner." The waving continued until Yuki sweatdropped and finally nudged Tohru the rest of the way out the door.

Much to both the teens' confusion, a familiar head of blonde hair was disappearing into the woods. Yuki stood gaping in wonder, and turned around to glance at the house, making the connection instantly.

Tohru, however, had passed over the issue with Kyo, and rushed to meet her friend.

"Uo!" Tohru called as she ran up to her. The blonde turned around in time to be tackled with a hug, and she laughed, patting the shorter girl on the head.

"Hey, Tohru," she greeted, then glanced up, "Hello, Prince Charming," Yuki rolled his eyes a bit at the name, but walked foreword to meet up with the two girls.

"So, Uo, what brings you to the Souma's?" Tohru asked, innocently enough. Yuki glanced back at the house again, and he was wondering if he'd regret getting to know the specifics.

"Oh, orangetop and I had some business we had to take care of at the bowling alley. I lost, so I told him I'd walk him home."

Hm, Uotani didn't make for a bad liar. To Tohru, anyway. To Yuki, however, walking her opponent home seemed like an odd condition for losing to Kyo. Something else was up, and Yuki was incredibly curious.

"Oh, well that's good," Tohru said, smiling, "That you're such a good sport. You must've beaten Kyo at _something_ though, he was all grumpy when he got home,"

"Was he?" Arisa cast her eyes to the side a bit, smiling a little melancholy. Yuki stared, but Tohru just kept on smiling.

"Oh!" All at once Tohru exclaimed and turned around to face a startled Yuki.

"Is it okay if she comes along to the secret base, Yuki?" Arisa blinked. Her imagination truly failed to picture what Prince Charming's secret base could possibly be.

"Well, uhm," he glanced at Arisa, who gave him the same blank expression he gave her, then smiled to Tohru, "Sure, I don't see why not."

"Hooray!" Tohru glowed and attached herself to Arisa's arm, leading her after Yuki as he started for the vegetable garden. Yuki was in a fairly good mood now; he'd made Tohru ecstatically happy three times already that afternoon, and he couldn't help feeling a little warm because of it. It was a wonderful feeling to see Tohru so excited.

"Well, here it is, Uotani," Arisa stared blankly at the small vegetable garden, shock clearly taking over. This was obviously _not_ what she'd been envisioning on her way to a _secret base_.

"Yuki and I come here all the time to take care of his vegetables!"

"And strawberries," Yuki grinned as he knelt down next to the small fruit patch.

"Wow, so the prince has a green thumb. I never would've guessed."

"Yeah, I was really surprised when he first showed it to me, too!" Tohru happily recalled the memory, "It was raining and I helped Yuki protect it from the storm! It was so exciting!" Yuki chuckled lightly. It wasn't quite how he had viewed the incident at that point, but he found Tohru's rendition quite entertaining.

"Well, sounds like you two have a lot of fun here," Uo smiled and knelt down to see if she could help Yuki pick some of the strawberries, while Tohru pulled some weeds over by the leeks.

The three probably spent a good hour or two weeding, digging, burying, watering and picking, talking about various things - most of which Tohru spoke quite excitedly about - before the brunette finally decided that they should get going back if she was going to get supper done in time for her to go to work.

Arisa separated from them and waved good-bye half-way to the house, all three of them smiling and laughing. It was quite a pleasant afternoon, Arisa thought. She'd learned a lot about Yuki. About both his gardening, and his relationship with Tohru. She noticed, especially, that Tohru's smile made Yuki happy. She wondered, jealously, if Kyo felt the same way about the lovable brunette. Hopefully she'd find out tomorrow.

-/-/-

Supper went smoothly as always. Shigure playfully taunted Kyo while he and Yuki fought over nothing, and Tohru sat grinning stupidly at the homey argument as she nibbled at her food.

She realized too late, of course, that it was nearing the time that she had to be at work, and when Shigure finally caught note of the time and let her know, she stuffed the rest of her food in her mouth and hurried around the house to change and take the items that she needed before zooming out the door.

Yuki had volunteered to clean up the dishes for her since she was so close to running late. Kyo, of course, helped as well, and Shigure retreated to his study again, where Mii had finally gotten over the emotional shock of the late manuscript and left him be.

"Hey, stupid rat," Kyo said by the kitchen door while Yuki deposited the last of the ditches in the sink. It wasn't his usual tone, but the words seemed more used out of familiarity than contempt. Yuki, however, curled his lip as he walked by.

"What is it, stupid cat?" he muttered. Kyo swallowed, both some saliva, and some pride, and followed after Yuki as he headed up the stairs.

"I...I really need to talk to you. And I really need not to fight. This is about Tohru." Yuki thunked his back against the hallway wall and turned to look at his cousin, arms folded.

"What could you possibly want to talk to me about Tohru? Shouldn't we do this while she's here?" Kyo shook his head violently.

"HELL no. She can't know about this. Not yet. But there are things that, that you and I have to sort out."

Yuki exhaled and rolled his eyes, "I really don't feel like fighting now, Kyo."

"I don't want to fight you, damned rat! Not now, anyway, maybe tomorrow. But...things...have come up, and, well, I need...I-I need your input..." He huffed and cast his eyes to the side, his fists clenched tight in their pockets. He hated having to swallow his pride and approach the rat peacefully like a little wuss, but this is what he felt he had to do. For both Tohru and Arisa's sake.

Yuki scoffed, finding this whole peaceful plea to be rather out of character for Kyo, and also rather pathetic. Still, he had to admit he was curious about what had gotten Kyo in his previous grumpy mood, and now he was intrigued by his suggestion that they talk about Tohru.

"Fine. But if you start snapping, stupid cat, I'm kicking you out,"

"Fine," Kyo spat back, following Yuki into his room where they could both sit and not stand uncomfortably in the hall.

Yuki flopped down on his bed and glared back at Kyo, who decided sitting wasn't really all that important, and he stood leaning his shoulder against the doorframe instead. There was a long moment of silence while Kyo pondered just how exactly to go about this, and Yuki grew impatient quickly.

"Well, if you think we need to talk about miss Honda, then lets _talk_. I still can't imagine what could be so important that she didn't deserve to hear-"

"How do you feel about Tohru?" Kyo made the question abrupt and blatant as he turned to look Yuki in the eye, accenting his seriousness.

"What do you-"

"I mean, are you..._content,_ with the way things are, living life like we're...I dunno, siblings or something..." Kyo drifted off. He was finding it rather difficult to vocalize the question he _really_ wanted to ask. Yuki raised an eyebrow.

"It's amazing, Kyo," he breathed, "This has got to be the most nonsensical conversation I've had with you yet. Just what are you getting at, you stupid cat?" Finally, Kyo decided to take a different approach. After all, Arisa had only asked him not to tell_ Tohru _- neither of them had said anything about not telling Yuki.

"That Yankee bitch asked me to be her _boyfriend_ today." Yuki tilted his head to the side and blinked. He was completely and utterly astonished. That had definitely _not_ been what Yuki had imagined Kyo and Arisa talking about in homeroom. This was certainly a twist to the plot. But what did it have to do with Tohru...? How he..._felt_ about her?

"I guess what I'm trying to say, rat," Kyo reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, still having trouble getting the words out. He was a little afraid of what Yuki would think when he said them.

"If I say yes to her...then, with me out of the way...do you think you might...I dunno, _advance_ on Tohru?"

"You say it like you're Shigure pretending to be worried about us having sex," Yuki muttered, his eyes now cast to the side. This conversation had gotten sufficiently awkward.

"Well what I mean rat-boy, is, I want Tohru to be...okay with whatever Arisa and I decide to do. Hell, I don't even know if I'll say yes yet, but...she made some good points...and...I _guess_ she's kinda pretty and all..."

"You two...would make an..._interesting_ couple..." Yuki offered. He still wasn't quite sure how he felt about Kyo and Uo being an item, but, as much as he disliked Kyo, he wasn't entirely interested in condemning his love life. If he wanted to go out with Arisa, then, well...that would be his business. He wasn't too interested in Arisa's life past Tohru, anyway.

"Yuki," Kyo was starting to sound exasperated, exhausted just from talking this serious with that damned rat. Yuki calmly looked up at him, anticipating what else he had to say.

"I guess I'm worried about what will happen to Tohru if I say yes."

"Don't be so arrogant," Yuki scoffed, "Her life doesn't revolve around you."

"Yes, it _does_," Kyo stepped foreword, the heat inside him starting to build up. "It revolves around _both_ of us! Don't you realize how much time she spends _obsessing_ over supper and your stupid leek garden and my martial arts? She _lives_ with us, stupid rat, of course her life revolves around us!"

Yuki was silent for a moment. He wanted to yell back, but he didn't know what, and he was trying to refrain from snapping too much, anyway. It was stressful, but it was good that they were having this talk. For them, Tohru, Arisa, hell - even Shigure - it was good that issues were being confronted.

"So, Kyo," Yuki finally offered again, "What do you want me to say? That Tohru's not in love with you?"

There was a thick, dreadful silence. Kyo wasn't sure if that was what he wanted to hear or not.

"If I say yes to Uotani, rat-boy..." Kyo faded off to think again, and this time Yuki graced him with the time instead of interrupting again.

"I want to hear you say you'll be there for Tohru, if she needs someone other than me." Yuki nodded slowly. He was almost in shock. He hated to admit it, but...that was an incredibly mature thing of Kyo to say. He was shamefully proud of his cousin, that he'd managed to grow up so much, and he wondered a little if, in the maturity department, he was starting to fall behind.

"Alright, Kyo," Yuki offered one more time, "If you say yes to Uotani, and I feel like Tohru might be down about it, I'll talk to her." Kyo nodded slightly, but lingered at the door. He could tell that Yuki still had something that needed to be said, but he was hesitating, like Kyo was doing earlier.

"What about you, stupid cat?" Yuki asked, superficially bitter, "If Tohru decides she does need someone, will you bee able to focus on Uotani? Or will you be the jealous one, instead of Tohru?"

Kyo gritted his teeth inside his mouth and balled his fist up against the doorframe.

"I..." he started, but cut himself off, changing his mind on what to say. Yuki waited patiently on the bed. "I don't know." he finally admitted, and then, surprisingly, swallowed his pride further. "But I think... you might have more to lose in Tohru than I do." He swallowed hard then, and hastily slipped out the door, having all he could take of this heavy conversation with his nemesis.

Yuki remained sitting on his bed, looking out the window, and contemplating over the enlightenments of the past few moments. That was a lot to take in over 15 minutes.

Kyo, following standard procedure, stomped downstairs and flopped the ladder out onto the roof. He needed his thinking space desperately now, and dreaded tomorrow when he had to put all these things in action. He still didn't even know if he wanted to say yes to Uotani. Was he getting ahead of himself in all this overly heavy emotional crap?

-/-/-

Yuki had eventually decided to escort Tohru home that night. He had been planning on it before his talk with Kyo, but he had to admit, with all that talk of 'how do you feel about Tohru?' and 'will you be there for her?' ..it had set him kind of on end. Had he agreed to do something for Kyo that he'd regret? Was all of this fair to Tohru? Even now, he wasn't sure if he really felt that way about Tohru or if she was, as Kyo said, more like a sister to him. A very close, special sister.

"Good evening, Yuki!" Tohru cheerfully greeted her prince charming as she skipped out of the building, to find Yuki leaning casually against the rail as always.

"Good evening, Miss Honda," Yuki greeted cordially and nodded his head, extending his hand for her to take, as had become the recent custom. What had not been the norm recently, however, was that Yuki found a warm blush building up on his face, as he thought about what Kyo had said, and he wondered if Tohru felt warm like he did now, with her hand in his.

He found himself wondering a _lot_ about Tohru. Was she actually closer to Kyo than she was to him? Was she wishing that one of the boys would make an advance on her? Did she care who? Or was she just the innocent little Tohru she appeared to be, happy with whatever the boys dished out to her? Even if she was, would she be even happier if they dished more?

Finally, so many questions Yuki couldn't stand it.

"Tohru," Yuki paused and leaned against the rail again, taking both her hands in his. Tohru blinked, very surprised and confused by the action.

"Yes? What is it, Yuki?" Did I mention, _very _confused? Was something wrong? Yuki seemed nervous and insecure about something...was it something that she did? Did she hurt him somehow? Her heart started to race and she panicked, giving Yuki a rushed bow.

"Uhm, I, m, I'm sorry!" she said, panting a bit. Yuki blinked, and then broke out laughing, leaving Tohru blinking in even more confusion.

"No, no, Miss Honda," he said, dropping her hands to wave his own, "You've nothing to be sorry about. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Oh. ookay." she nodded, curious as to what Yuki could want to ask her five steps away from her work building. Why didn't he want to wait until they were home, she wondered?

"Tohru, you know that you're very important to me," he said, and then quickly added as a disclaimer, "And to Shigure, and that stupid cat," Tohru nodded dumbfounded. The confusion was starting to severely interfere with her brain processes.

"I really enjoy our time at the secret base together, and at school, and when I help you study for tests, and," he paused, leaving Tohru a little stressed at the suspense. She bit down on her lip to pass some time while she waited for Yuki to decide how to finish.

"I _love_ it when you smile, Tohru," he slowly, cautiously reached up to her face and brushed his hand up against her cheek. Tohru stood frozen, her heart pounding and her head swirling. Was Yuki getting ready to say what she thought he was?

"Would you...like it, if I kissed you, Miss Honda?" It was sort of an odd way to phrase the question, but she got the message, and all of Tohru's body leapt for joy and she cried out,

"YES!" Yuki exhaled one very relieved breath, and he started to lean in, and exercise the right he'd earned, when Tohru gasped and softly pushed him away.

"I-Im sorry, Yuki, but...what about Kyo? I sort of...I mean, if he's jealous, I-I'll-"

"Kyo's fine," Yuki said softly, caressing Tohru's cheek again. She had to admit she loved his gentle touch, and a fierce burning warmed her whole body from her chest. She'd never felt this way before.

"But he-" Tohru wanted to do what Yuki asked her to do, but...she couldn't stop thinking about Kyo. If this would hurt him in any way, she didn't think she could-

"Uotani asked Kyo the same question this morning, Tohru." Tohru blinked and drew back, out of pure surprise.

"Uo? Well, that-that's...that's wonderful!" she smiled cheerfully, taking that notion as a relief, that Kyo would be happy with someone else while Tohru could be happy with Yuki. She couldn't help feeling a little envious, but...it would all work out.

And then one horrible, frightening fact hit her.

"But, Yuki, about Kyo and Uo...the zodiac..." Yuki was quiet for a long moment. He had to admit, the zodiac didn't seem to be first on anyone's mind when they were thinking about this. Kudos to Tohru to realizing the problem there.

Yuki stuttered for a moment, unsure what to say. Tohru made an excellent point, and he wasn't sure if he could console her.

"Well, she's bound to find out eventually, I guess." he said, smiling meekly and continuing the rub at Tohru's cheek. That didn't seem to comfort Tohru much though. Yuki sighed and tried again.

"We don't have to tell Shigure about the relationships yet." Tohru gasped.

"We-we cant hide from Shigure! I think he'll understand, it's-"

"Akito, yes. Shigure won't run to tell him until someone finds out about the curse. I don't know that Akito would show the same grace to Uotani as he showed to you." Tohru's eyes started to melt, and she took Yuki's hand in hers, moving her face to bury her eyes in his palm.

"But Yuki, what'll they do? Even if Uo gets past his being a cat - I mean, she likes cats and all, but - but what about his other _form_?" she sniffed, and all Yuki could find to do was pat her awkwardly on the shoulder, while his other hand was held captive by Tohru's.

"What'll she do when she sees him as a monster? What if she's too scared or too disgusted? She-he-it'll ... Y-Yuki, I can't let them hurt each other like that..." she looked up from his hand and into Yuki's eyes, and his heart lurched to see tears already welling up in her sight, and her jaw trembling. He wanted so badly to hold her and embrace her... why did the curse have to be so _cruel_?

"Uotani is a strong girl, Tohru. I think she can handle it." Yuki stroked Tohru's hair gently, unsure how else to comfort her. He truly hated to see her cry like this, and he wished desperately that he could do something to stop it.

Tohru put her face back down into Yuki's hand, her desperate worry starting to turn into sobs. In her moment of vulnerability, Tohru sank foreword, her emotional instincts seeking a body that would hold onto her.

"Tohru," Yuki quickly stepped to the side, his own zodiac instincts kicking in. Tohru tripped when the body she'd expected to be there wasn't, and Yuki just barely caught her with his arm before she hit the railing. By that time Tohru had finally snapped out of it and realized what she'd almost done, and once Yuki got her standing on her own two feet, she instantly bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, and Yuki shook his head.

"No, no, Miss Honda, it's okay. ..._I'm_ sorry, that I can't hold you. Now of all times, I'm sorry that embracing is something I can't do. ...Will you be okay with that? Dating a...a normal boy...might be..."

"No, Yuki," Tohru shook her head, "I want to be happy with_ you_. I just-" she sniffed, "I just want Kyo and Uo-chan to be happy, too,"

"They will be," Yuki nodded and lifted Tohru's chin so that she could see the gesture. "You don't have to worry about them; they'll survive whatever they have to go through. You survived, after all, and here you are." Yuki smiled meekly, and Tohru followed suit, trying desperately to wipe away her tears.

She felt bad now, that she was being a nuisance to Yuki, worrying about Kyo who he hates so much, on the very same night, just moments after he asked her to worry about him first and foremost. She would...she always has, but that didn't mean that Kyo took back seat. She may not be close to him in the same way she was to Yuki, but she still cared for him deeply, and hoped that she would still be able to help him in any way she could.

"Come on, I think we should go home, Miss Honda." Tohru nodded and started walking. Yuki lazily hung his arm over her shoulders, careful not to bring her in too tight, and the two walked along in silence, save for Tohru's occasional sniffling. She didn't like thinking about Kyo's other form, as much as she accepted it in order to accept Kyo.. she was just very worried that Uo might not be able to do things like she did.

If Arisa couldn't accept Kyo like Tohru did...this could only end in a horrible, dysphoric tragedy. Something she didn't want either of their lives to be.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

w00t. A little heavier than last chapter. Heh, kinda strange that Yuki and Tohru get together before the title characters xD ah well. Suspensefullnss is fun. I just have one question for you guys, before I go on like this any longer:

Are the chapters too long? I guess I'm just not sure which is better to read, several smaller chapters, or fewer bigger chapters? If you guys could let me know, that would be great! Shorter chapters would possibly mean updates more often, too, since it would be easier to write up chapters to keep with the update schedule. So, shorter, more frequent updates, or longer, more drawn apart? Your guys' call, I'm asking you because I don't care xD

Also, I'm afraid tomorrow I've got to help out with my mom's play all day, the next day I have to clean house and pack for music camp, and then I'm gone from sunday to friday with no computer access::tear: so you guys'll have to wait at least another week before the next update. I'll make it up to you with an uber-long chapter, though xD The next chapter is looking like it's gonna be close to 15 pages o.O;;

So, until next time, read, enjoy..review! nyah! xD


	3. Anxiety Unfolding

**Reviewer Replies**:

Sailor J-Chan aka Luna Weasely:

lol, okay then, I don't think we have to worry about 30 page chapters xD And here I was thinking 10 was a long chapter ; thanks muchly for the review!

Lady Evilness:

Yay! You really thought that scene was good? I was worried it didn't sound quite natural enough. Getting Yuki and Kyo to talk peacefully without sounding lame is a challenge, I discovered o.O heh. But yesh, that scene was one of my favorites. Although I really enjoyed writing Yuki and tohru's last scene there a lot too o Bottom line is, I think, boys are so cute when they're awkward xD ahahahah :grin:3

But no way, you got to go to Vegas? I was stuck in small town Marryville! lol I'm so jealous xD Music camp was fun though. made top band again. Wouahahaha. My stand's a bastard. xD :rolls over laughing: yeah, okay, I'll stop myself before I keep listing inside jokes, lest I make an entire chapter out of them. You'll just have to take my word that there were some hilarious jokes floating about campus xD nyaha. My music camp so pwned your vegas xD

**Chapter Summary:** A question is answered and relationships unfold.

**Author Comments**: Yeah, okay, I know you were expecting a freaking long-butt chapter after my little spiel last chapter. Buuut, I read through the prospective chapter again, and decided that this was a decent place to cut it off. Soooo sorry it took me so long to update, after I came back mom bombarded me with chores ;.; ahh :bangs head: but the next chapter will come up soon. Just have a couple last-minute editing-type things to do. nods

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

The three departed for school the next morning cheerily _enough_. Tohru and Yuki put on their happy faces, at least. Kyo's fists mingled in his pockets, and he was already glowing red like he was sun burnt. He was, to say the least, nervous about today. Lying on the roof sitting, reflecting, and thinking...he had finally made up his mind, but telling it to Uotani would be a little different. He never was good with coping with anxious nerves, and even a good 20 minutes beforehand, his palms were clammy and his forehead was sweating.

Luckily Tohru and Yuki had developed enough tact to ignore it, as they both - yes, even Tohru - could guess what he was nervous about. Yuki had finished explaining about the talk he had with Kyo a ways into the walk last night, when Tohru had calmed down about the Zodiac a bit. Now that she knew the whole story, things were really starting to fall into place, and she felt good about what she'd done with Yuki the night before, even if she was afraid for what Kyo and Arisa's path would bring them.

"Good morning, Uo-Chan!" Tohru ecstatically greeted the blonde as she and Saki met with the group of three. Tohru took one brief glance between Arisa and Kyo and quickly ushered Yuki and Hana inside the school building, insisting that Yuki had asked for their help for a student council project. Uo was suspicious that Tohru seemed to know just what she and Kyo wanted, but didn't push the matter, considering the three of them were gone in a split second.

"So, orangetop," Uo smirked cavalierly and pulled back her bangs, while Kyo blushed and kicked at the ground, dreading having to say it.

"Listen, Uotani, there are some things...you dont know about me..." Uo's smirk faded, and she suddenly felt very nervous. This was sounding suspiciously like an "I like you but not that way" speech.

"But...I guess I'm willing to let you find out. ..._God, that sounded lame..._" Thankfully, it was only a moment of dread, and another, much longer moment, of bliss.

"I told you, orangetop," she grinned and walked over to him, ruffling his hair lightly.

"HEY!" Kyo snapped, swatting away her hand and straitening out the mess she made.

"THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET TO DO THAT!" Uo just laughed.

"Orangetop, you're angry again..." she grinned at Kyos grumpy, "I'm-so-not-angry-anymore" face.

"A-and," he added, "You only get to find stuff out little by little. No, like, breaking into my room or anything." Arisa rolled her eyes.

"Come on, what do you think I am, a fan girl? This is what they call a relationship, orangetop, its not like I'm gonna stalk you or anything. I don't want you breaking into my room, either."

. We're agreed."

"Yes," Uo laughed, finding it to be a little silly - but cute, of course - as was Kyos fashion, "We're agreed."

"A-and, I don't want to hear any marriage crap, either! And no forcing me to hold hands, and absolutely _no_ hugging!" Uo just laughed more and more the more she heard. Orangetop was proving to be very amusing today.

"Alright, alright! We'll take things slowly, I get it. Yeesh, you're uptight about relationships. You ever had a girlfriend before, orangetop?"

"...not exactly..." Arisa grinned, having suspected it. She didn't feel like making him get flustered over that, so she said nothing more on the subject, and started to head inside to find Tohru, when... well, Tohru crossed her mind, and she turned around.

"Did you tell Tohru?" Kyo couldn't decipher whether it was scolding, worry, or curiosity driving the question, but he answered truthfully and in full, seeing nothing wrong in giving her the details.

"I talked to Yuki about Tohru yesterday, and I think he might've told her," now that he thought of it, he didn't know too many details, anyway. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Tohru since supper last night, and on the walk to school he was far too focused on this talk with Arisa to be thinking about Tohru.

He felt a little guilty for it, but supposed this was the deal he made. Girlfriends are, after all, supposed to be more important than gal friends. He had to accept that from now on, he'd agreed to put Arisa first, even if it meant serving Tohru very quickly afterwards.

"Oh. Do you know...how she feels about this?"

"Well, no, but I'm pretty sure, if she'd be jealous of anyone, it would be Yuki. I mean, I'd hate to admit it, but...for Tohru's sake, I have to. She'd be better off with him, anyway. She needs someone more...soft than me. When I talked to Yuki yesterday, he said that if Tohru was feeling lonely because of you and me, he would be there fore her."

"But you haven't asked Tohru what she thinks?" Kyo was silent for a moment, then,

"...No." Arisa sighed and continued inside, Kyo following in soon after.

-/-/-

"Souma-kun doesn't need help with student council, does he?" Saki's eyes briefly glared, while Tohru sighed and shook her head.

"No, but we had to get away from Kyo a-...! I mean! there was this-"

"I know." Hana said matter-of-factly, saving Tohru the trouble of trying to cover it up, afraid that Saki wasn't aware of Arisa's situation yet. Tohru breathed a sigh of relief and looked back towards the school's entrance.

"...I should stop them, though," Tohru murmured. Yuki shook his head.

"No, we should leave them to their own devices. After all, Hatori didn't stop you, did he? It doesn't help to warn someone of danger like that, for good or for bad."

"I guess...you're right..."

"What danger is there to be had with Kyo?"

"Ahhh," Both teens instantly took to waving it off, grinning nervously and sweatdropping while they tried to convince Saki to drop the subject.

"It's nothing, Hana!" Tohru exclaimed.

"I-it wasnt about Kyo, Hanajima, it was, uhm, my brother, yes, Ayame, he was-"

"Yeah, you don't have anything to worry about, Hana! Uo and Kyo will be just fine!"

"For Kyo's sake..." Hana murmured, "I hope so."

"Eheh..." Yuki and Tohru both let out huge sweatdropps, relived that Hana hadn't pushed the topic further.

"What about you, Tohru?" Hana turned from the door to her friend, earning some confused blinks from Tohru.

"Are you and Souma-kun an item now?" Both their hearts pounded in sync, and Yuki was especially disturbed that Hana's powers could read _that_. It was kind of scary, to tell the truth.

"...Arisa commented yesterday that she thought you two would make a nice couple. As do I..." Well, there was some relief. She was simply stipulating and not reading.

"Yes, we are, actually," Tohru grabbed Yuki's hand and held it up proudly.

"As of last night," Yuki added, blushing.

Saki smiled, delighted that she found herself more happy for Tohru than jealous. She'd likely turn jealous when she started not getting invited on the double-dates or feeling left out as the fifth wheel, but now, in this blissful, happy moment, all that she was, was glad. Her two best friends had found people they could connect with, and it was a delightful thing that they could both be so happy. She was starting to emulate Tohru, afterall.

"I am glad," she bowed slightly, "for both of you. I wish you both happiness."

"Thank-you," Tohru beamed with the approval of Saki, and Yuki's blush saturated a lighter pink.

Attention immediately turned to the doors as Arisa and Kyo came marching in. Kyo was still as slouched and grumpy as ever, but Arisa's cheerful, triumphant mood was a dead giveaway that things had happened according to her plan.

Hana quickly approached her friend, and the group settled around where the two met, Kyo slouching behind his new girlfriend, and the other couple happily clasping hands on the other side of Uo and Hana.

"So, I take it this means that Kyo agrees with you, Arisa?" Kyo muttered something under his breath, his face a violent crimson. Arisa, however, nodded happily.

"Ah-huh. Orangetop and I are going to the arcade this afternoon,"

"We're WHAT!" Kyo burst, but, as always, was completely ignored.

"You three want to come with?" Saki let out an elongated sigh and brought her hand to her cheek, shaking her head.

"No thank you, Arisa. I never have liked that noisy, chaotic place. The electric waves run rampant through the walls...I get such a headache..."

"So, how about you two? Yuki, Tohru?"

"Aw, don't invite that bastard!" Kyo complained while he was _still_ ignored, as Arisa waited for Yuki and Tohru to finish blushing and looking at each other, communicating with a series of looks and glances that Arisa frankly couldn't understand.

"Well..." Tohru started, "I'm running kind of short on money..."

"I can pay for you, Miss Honda,"

"O-oh! No, Yuki, I can't ask you to do that!"

"Its no trouble, Miss Honda, really-"

"W-well, I-I also have to-"

"I would like to play cards this afternoon." Yuki and Tohru both blinked at Saki, while Arisa grabbed onto Kyo's arm and started to yank him towards class.

"Alright then, you three have fun. Tohru, would it be alright if I stole orangetop for supper?"

"Oh, u-umm, sure..."

"Hey, wait a minute-!"

"Alright, it's settled then. I'll be sure not to keep Kyon-chan out too late."

"DONT CALL ME THAT!" Arisa giggled and grinned at Kyo, sending him into another steaming, grumbling fluster.

"He's so cute when he's angry... come on, orangetop, we better get to class."

"Yes, Arisa's right." Saki nodded and walked off after Arisa and Kyo, while Tohru and Yuki both stood, equally fascinated by the relationship unfolding before their eyes.

Angry Kyo was...cute? And Arisa could shut Kyo up almost as effectively as Tohru could, although Tohru wasn't sure that Arisa's flustering methods were the best idea in the long run. Still, it was amazing. Neither of them had seen that couple coming, and now that it was there, they were entirely transfixed.

"Tohru-kun, Souma-kun," Saki paused and glanced behind her, finally breaking the two out of their dazes.

"Ah! Oh, sorry, coming!" Tohru shook her head violently to wear off the shock factor, and hurried to catch up with her friends, Yuki following close behind.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Hazzah! xDDD Also from Music campt. oye, I'm going to be saying that for the longest time. That, and my stand's a bastard xD The boys were bastards, too. They got to be a full five minutes closer to the fine arts building that the girls :cries:

Anyway, I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. Even with this cut out of it, it's still nice and long xD plus it has bonus features. So to say xD tee-hee. In the mean time, as always, Read, enjoy Review! nyaha


	4. First Date

**Reviewer Replies:**

**Lady Evilness**: lol you don't have to make excuses xD I almost posted this chapter twice but I kept finding typos to fix, and then my mom made me start cleaning out the basement. unfortunately, this means updates might be a little slower, but I'll try not to make it too antagonising. It's just a headache to go down and brush dust off 26-year-old trinkets from Mom and Dad's pre-children romance life. Ehhhh, I hate dust.

Anyway. Yes, but, Kyo and Uo's relationship shall change soon enough, never ph34r. ;3 Kyo just needs some time to...adjust. you know how he is with change xD :pats orangetop:

And I said it once; I'll say it again: My week at music camp _so_ did pwn your vegas! I'll bet you didn't have counselors that sang songs about toaster ovens xD lol

**Cortamone**: hehe, I think that's partly why KyoxUo was so attractive to me - I thrive on unconventiality. Assuming that's a word, of course, but you know what I mean xD Then again, I came to and discovered there are actually a lot of authors that thought of the same pairing. It's interesting that we all seem to do it for different reasons though

Poor Hanajima will get her time to shine :3 tee-hee. Actually, she's really the one I identify most with in this story. My best friend and her little sister (whose house I basically _live_ at) both have boyfriends, and I'm often stuck as the fifth wheel. But rest assured, she gets a very unique role later on in the story x3 As does Megumi. Yep yep. I 3 the Hanajima children muchly xD

Speaking of Hana, Fruits Basket has been rubbing off way too much on me o.O I babysit these two kids Nate and Hannah...and the last time I was there, I called Hannah Hana at least three tims. Luckily she still responded, but I just found that amusing xD anyway...

**Chapter Summary**: A little bit of tension, but a whole lot of fun! But will knowledge be leaking too far too soon? Akito _does_ have a way of trying relationships. The bastard. ( -ahhh, more music camp jokes! we're all doomed xD)

**Author Notes**: card games are fun. Nertz is my favorite. A card game is played this chapter which all of you might not be familiar with, though some of you might be. The rules to the game are explained at the end of the chapter. I'm not sure if it would work better to read them first and then the chapter, or read the chapter first and then the rules (considering I use examples from the chapter to illustrate the rules xP) your choice I guess. Just letting you know that they're there.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Hey, you, Yankee!"

"What do you stooges want?" Suddenly grumpy, Arisa twirled around in the hall, to face the three worst annoyances in their class. The Prince Yuki fan club representatives.

"You've been passing a lot of notes today," Minami gave Uo a sinister glare, earning nothing more from the blonde girl than a continued, annoyed frown.

"You even passed one through me!" Mai complained, suddenly blushing a bright crimson.

"I couldn't help reading it...why did you have to make fun of his hair like that!" Arisa rolled her eyes to see the blue-haired girl tearing up, while Mio stepped into the picture.

"Yeah, we love Prince Yuki's cousin!"

"Even his orange hair!" Arisa took a moment to roll her eyes again, then smirk.

"You three are pathetic." Without another world, the blonde swished some of her hair behind her back and continued on her way, leaving the three fanatics standing a little disheveled. Finally Minami turned around, sporting her finger after Arisa.

"And, and Yuki! He's been doing a lot of blushing today! That w- Tohru-"

"Aww, are they going out now? That's so cute." Arisa smiled, happy to note that she had tagged them as a good couple first. Minami and Mio both grumbled, while Mai whimpered by the side.

"That's not what I said!" Minami defended.

"She's manipulating our Yuki and making him think he's in love with her!"

"You freaks are manipulating yourselves," Arisa rolled her eyes again before continuing on. It was really disturbing that girls as obsessive as that existed. Truth be told, she felt rather sorry for Yuki, and she found herself eternally grateful that she'd never have a fan club named for her.

-/-/-

"What kept you, Yankee?" Arisa found Kyo leaning against the wall outside the school, fists dug deep in his pockets. "That damn rat already took Tohru home." Arisa brushed her hair back and took a moment to look around.

"And Hana-?"

"Stalked them like the creep she is." Arisa cocked her head back and laughed.

"Hana is kinda creepy," she admitted, a wide grin on her face.

"You're kinda creepy," Kyo murmured, but was cut off as he felt a strong yank on his arm, pulling him away from the wall and down the sidewalk.

"Come on," Arisa chimed, "Lets go to my house and play Trivial Pursuit!"

"I thought we were going to the arcade!"

"I changed my mind. But if you really want to go to the arcade we can. I just thought that maybe something quieter would be better for a first _date_." Arisa grinned to see Kyo flash crimson. He was so fun and easy to fluster.

"I don't really care. We'll do what you want."

"Alright," Arisa cheered, "Then to the arcade it is!"

"...freak."

-/-/-

"Shiguuure," Tohru chimed as she and Yuki and Hana made their entrance, "We're home!"

"Welcome home, kids! How's-" Shigure smiled and greeted them, before his eyes locked on Hanajima in place of Kyo.

"Oh, he-hello there, Saki," his smile grew a bit nervous. It had been a while since he had Hanajima over to the house, and, well, she still creeped him out.

"Hello, Shigure." Saki bowed slightly, and Shigure backed up into his study.

"Y-you kids have fun!" he waved and started to close the door, but Tohru rushed over to him, looking worried.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't get a chance to call you from school. Kyo is with Uo at the arcade, so we told Hana she could come home with us. I-I hope that's okay-"

"Ah, yes," Shigure's composure quickly regained him, now that Saki was being led into the next room by Yuki. "How is the young couple? Still alive, are they?"

"Ehh!" Tohru panicked. How did Shigure know! The writer chuckled and rubbed at his chin.

"The boys talked rather loudly last night, I couldn't help but overhear."

"Eavesdropper." Yuki murmured as he returned from letting Saki loose on the fridge.

"Yuki, you know Kyo _is_ rather loud," Shigure grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Here I was, sitting, and trying to write, when I hear something about a Yankee and our little kitten, and something else about Yuki and Tohru...you can imagine, I didn't get much work done last night."

"You didn't go to see _Akito_, did you?"

"Why, Yuki," Shigure pouted, "I feel hurt."

"Shigure, you saw what Akito tried to do last time. That was just Miss Honda asking to stay in the house."

"How right you are, Yuki." Shigure was silent for a moment. He seemed to be getting more serious, though he kept his grin on.

Tohru had involuntarily nuzzled up against Yuki's shoulder, growing nervous with memories of her visit to Akito. She hoped Shigure wouldn't make them go see him again. Yuki felt the comfort-seeking nuzzle and gently reached his hand up to brush her hair.

"No, you two don't have to talk with Akito about this. You will _eventually_, of course, but I won't make you go-"

"Oh, thank you so much Shigure!" Tohru finally exhaled, very relieved to not be looking forward to a visit to Souma House anytime soon, even if _eventually_ was still a little intimidating.

Shigure nodded slowly, then tilted his head to look out the window.

"Uotani, however...Tohru-kun, I would suggest keeping an eye on them. If she finds out about the Zodiac..." Tohru's happiness sank. It wasn't very reassuring that Shigure brought up the same thing Tohru had been worrying about last night. "Well, I can't hide something like _that_ from Akito."

"I understand," Tohru bowed slightly. Yuki grumbled and looked to the side.

"I'll try and keep that stupid cat on his toes."

"Yuki...Tohru," Both the startled teens turned around to face Saki, who appeared as she often did behind them, sporting a trey of jelly buns.

"...And Shigure, if you like. The snacks are ready. Shall we play?"

"Oh, you three plan to play cards?" Shigure instantly perked. Tohru nodded excitedly.

"Yes! Would you like to play? Yuki, is that okay if Shigure plays with us?" Yuki blinked, not expecting to be asked. With a begging look from Tohru he flushed, smiled and nodded.

"Yes, that would be fun. We could play spades."

"Ah, such a strategic game. Much preferable to hearts." Hana nodded.

"Eh?" Tohru blinked between Saki and Yuki, having not heard of either game.

"Yes, spades it is!" Shigure cheerfully jumped up from his desk, raising a determined finger in the air. "You know..." he started an obvious bluff, getting a cocky smirk and bringing his finger to his chin, "Back in the day, they used to call me the King of Spades..."

"Ah, really!" Tohru gawked, as always, and Yuki sweatdropped a little, admittedly amused by Tohru's adorable gullibility.

"A much more clever title would have been the Ace of Spades," Hanajima remarked blandly. "Or, in referring to hearts, the Queen of Spades." Yuki laughed internally, noting that Hana made a good point, while Tohru stared vacantly and Shigure chuckled.

"Yes, well, in any case, let's go win some tricks!" Shigure chuckled.

"Hm," Hana mused, "so he does actually know how to play..."

The four sat themselves happily down by the table, and Hana started dealing.

"Um...I don't know how to play spades..." Tohru finally admitted. Yuki smiled warmly at her.

"I just learned not too long ago myself."

"Oh?" Yuki nodded.

"Haru taught me," he answered, "Along with Momiji and, ...Ayame..."

"Aaya taught me to play as well!" Shigure chimed, smiling happily to make a comment about his fellow mabudachi. Yuki rolled his eyes at this, a little embarrassed to admit to being taught the game by his brother, even with Haru's help. Tohru, however, looked very pleased.

_That means they were spending time together!_ She thought excitedly, _Maybe the gap is closing! That would be wonderful!_

"This ...Ayame..." Hanajima broke the thought as she picked up her cards to look them over, "I recall you mentioning him before...Who is he? Another Souma?"

"Yes!" Tohru exclaimed, "Ayame is Yuki's older brother!" Yuki sighed, wishing they would get off the topic of his brother.

"Interesting." Shigure glanced oddly at Hana, failing to find what was worth the cryptic 'interesting,' but he let it pass as simply Hana, and turned to Yuki when the boy started eagerly explaining the rules to Tohru.

Hana sat shifting the positions of the cards in her hand, and Shigure tapped his fingers against the table, obviously bored, while Yuki and Tohru watched each other from their seats diagonal the table, Tohru shifting her cards around a little after Yuki gave some advice.

When they were finally ready to play, Shigure perked right up. Hana bet that she could take nine, leaving Shigure feeling a little dumbfounded. He went with a conservative zero to underbalance his ostentatious partner. Yuki went with four, and Tohru bet two.

True to Hana's word, she won _ten_ of the rounds, and the tenth one was only to keep Shigure from going over his bet of zero. That put them well ahead of Yuki and Tohru, who collectively scored three.

The quartet played several more rounds, with Shigure keeping score. In the end, the duo of Hanajima and Shigure trampled over Yuki and Tohru, but it was an afternoon filled with laughs and pleasant conversation, all around perfect for a first date with princely Yuki and sweet little Tohru.

-/-/-

"You're going DOWN, orange-boy!"

"Not before you do, ya damn Yankee!"

"Uh-oh, better watch your back, cat-lover-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

"I'll call you what I want, Kyon-Chan,"

"I don't know why I put up with-"

"Cause Kyo's got the hots!"

"...WHAT!"

"I didn't say anything, orangetop. HAH! Got'cha!"

"AUGH!"

Kyo kicked at the game machine in front of him, and Arisa laughed before turning around, startled by the presense of a young blonde Souma boy.

"Ah, hello," Arisa greeted and knealt down to be eye-to-eye. In the meantime Kyo finished taking out his frustrations on the machine and jumped sky-high when he saw the young blonde standing behind him, getting childishly pet on the head by Arisa.

"GAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

"I heard that Kyo got the hots, and I was right!" Momiji playfully stuck his tongue out at the steaming carrot-top, while Arisa cocked her head back and laughed.

"Gee, word travels fast, eh? Hey, Kyo, did you know Tohru and Yuki decided to make an item of themselves?" Kyo shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his fists in his pockets, starting to calm down again.

"I kinda figured."

"Yay!" Momiji jumped, "Yuki and Tohru have the hots, too!" the boy quieted himself with his hands and giggled, beaming with excitement. He apparently quite enjoyed seeing people get together.

Kyo thumped the annoyance on the head, earning a squeal out of him. "You had better not tell Akito about this, you little blabbermouth! Not Shigure or Ayame or Hatori, or even Haru, either! Got that!"

"WAHHH! OKAY OKAY OKAY! Arisaa, your boyfriend is mean!" Uotani, in the meantime, was backed against the game machine, covering her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

Kyo finally released Momiji and pushed himself up to his feet. His face flushed pink when he caught sight of Arisa hiding her fit of laughter. This was the first time, he was pretty sure, he'd made her blush. A rather odd way to do it, but it was...nice, to know that the relationship wasn't quite as one-sided as he might have thought.

"Arisaa," Momiji complained, dissappointed by the reaction of laughter to his tragic situation.

"Ah, shut up and go home, would ya?" Surprisingly, Momiji brightened up instantly after Kyo's bark, catching a curious, annoyed glare from the cat, and continued laughter from Arisa.

"First," the young blonde said, "I wanna see you two dance together!"

"WHAT!" Both Arisa and Kyo shouted out in unison, Arisa's cheery mood instantly vanished.

"I said I wanna see you dance," Momiji pouted.

"What, HERE? I SUCK at dancing!" Arisa hollered, while Kyo steamed a dirty crimson.

"NO WAY!" he shouted. "I CAN'T DANCE! DANCING IS FOR GIRLS - LIKE YOU!"

"HEY!" Arisa thwapped the cat on the back of the head, her temper now focused on him.

"Now what was that for!" Kyo complained and held the back of his head, "You're not girly, you said you suck at dancing - What's the PROBLEM!"

"Well, you can't just go around saying 'this is for girls and this is for boys,' that's stupid!"

"Well, uhm, I didn't mean, like _dancing_ dancing..." Momiji haulted the little lovers' spat, sweatdropping a bit at the misunderstanding he caused. "I wanna see you play that one over there..." he lifted a finger and pointed to the back wall of the arcade, where two big shiny metal pads stood in front of a screen.

"Oh." Arisa was at a loss for words when she realised she misunderstood the boy's peculiar request, although she did think that he'd been vague on purpose. Kyo, however, was just as vocal as ever.

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO!"

"WAHH! KYO'S SO MEAN!" The blonde cried as the carrot-top gave him a noogie, and Arisa let out a chuckle, shaking her head. She had to admit those two were adorable together. Although she felt a little sorry for Momiji, he really _did _rather deserve it.

"So, Kyon-Chan, you want to?" Arisa grinned and pointed at the game, pleased to see there was no line and very little audience. She'd only played the game twice before, in the same afternoon; once with Hana and once with Tohru.

Hana had been surprisingly good at the game, despite it being her first time playing, while Tohru had been her normal self and tripped all over the game machine. So Arisa had tagged herself as intermediate, until she saw a couple get up after them and bust out some crazy insane moves on heavy mode.

Still, she didn't have a problem with seeing how Kyo fared with his feet-eye coordination.

"...Not really..." Kyo muttered.

"Why?" Arisa perked an eyebrow and grinned, "You _chicken_?"

"HELL, NO, YANKEE! YOU'RE ON!" Arisa chuckled as Kyo raced to his dance pad while she casually boarded hers. Momiji cheered and jumped along behind them.

"You ever play this game before, orangetop?"

"No, but I'm still gonna wipe your face in the dust!" Arisa scoffed.

"We'll see about that."

"Yay! Dance-off!"

"Quiet, you little runt," Kyo muttered to Momiji while Arisa stepped forward and put in the change.

"WAHH! Kyo's so-"

"A young blond-haired boy eerily resembling Momiji, standing behind a blonde girl and an orange-haired boy that eerily resemble Arisa and Kyo, here in the back corner of an arcade..." The boy's face faded and he blinked behind him, looking a little panicked. "A mystery..." Kyo tilted his head to the side and blinked as Haru walked up, grabbing a hold of the smaller boy's arm.

"WAHH!" Momiji cried, "But I don't wanna go! Kyo and Arisa are having a dance-off! I wanna see! I wanna see! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepl-"

"...Okay. But then we have to go back to the house."

"Yay!" Momiji cheered up again and leapt for joy, while Haru sighed and slouched against the side wall to watch them.

"Alright," Arisa nodded as the change was accepted and the screen came up.

"Hey Hatsuharu," she raised her hand in greeting, and Haru lazily raised his back.

"Yo."

The pair set their settings to light - despite Arisa's suggestion to Kyo to set his on beginner - and came to the song screen.

"Any preferenses, Kyo?"

"Hell no," Kyo grumbled, "This music sucks. You pick your own poison."

"It's _your _poison, orangetop, but alright." Roulette was really the only option.

The randomly-picked song commensed with Momiji cheering enthisuastically in the background.

Kyo wavered a bit in the beginning, having some trouble finding the way the arrows clicked into the beat.

"Told you you shoulda' picked beginner, Kyon-Chan." Arisa joked, noticing Kyo's little green bar fading.

"You can just shut your mouth, Yankee." The blonde would've kept at it, but found that talking and keeping the beat didn't coincide easily.

"Yay! Arisa's winning! Arisa is so good at this game!" Momiji cheered from the back, earning a quick glare from Kyo before the cat remembered he had to watch the screen. After that, Arisa was a little suprised to note that Kyo was starting to get his bearings, and all at once she was seeing 'perfect' and 'great' flash accross his screen. She had to say, she was surprised.

In the end Arisa still won, thanks to Kyo's streak of 'boo's and 'miss'es at the beginning. Still, it couldn't be denied that Kyo was likely better at the game than she was. It was a shame he decided that was enough of that.

"I'm hungry," he said frankly, walking off of his pad.

"Aw, but Kyon-Chan, we've still got two more songs-"

"I said I'm hungry damnit! Now come on...I'll...buy you dinner..."

"Aww, how sweet," Arisa said, but with some blatant sarcasm hiding in there. Kyo twinged.

"Hey- I'm _trying_ to be a boyfriend here, okay!"

"Kyo-o's got the ho-ots, Kyo-o's got the ho-ots-!"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP!"

"You're so _loud_ Kyo," Haru pushed himself sleepily from the wall, and Kyo froze. He'd forgotten in the midst of watching arrows fly up the screen that Haru was here. Haru caught the glance, and let out a lazy sigh.

"What are you staring at?" Kyo steamed at Haru's proclaimed ignorance.

"YOU-!" He stuttered, "YOU HAD BETTER NOT TELL AKITO ABOUT THIS!"

"...I've got to reason to upset Akito at you, Kyo." he said blankly, starting to meander over to the dance pad, clicking arrows to switch through songs now that Arisa and Kyo had gotten off.

"And-and Yuki!" Kyo huffed, still not convinced, "You tell Akito about us, and I'll tell him about Tohru and that damn rat! You wouldn't want _Yuki _to-"

"Kyo, I'm not going to tell him." Haru replied calmly. He leaned against the back rail and pointed lazily with his thumb over his shoulder. "Momiji's the one you've got to worry about. And Shigure." The song started up and Haru gracefully clicked arrows, taking advantage of the songs Arisa and Kyo had left.

"Tee-hee." Momiji grinned, "But I won't tell."

"Darn right you won't, you little runt! Cause you know what'll happen to Tohru if you do!"

"Kyo." The boy froze with the touch of a painful grip on his ear, tugging him to the side.

"Let's go eat dinner at my place. I think we need to talk." Momiji stood blinking as the carrot-top was pulled away hopping on one foot, thrown off-balance by Arisa's iron grip on his ear.

When the two teens finally exited the arcade Momiji turned back around to Haru, getting ready to say that he was ready to go, only to find the white-haired cow dancing away to the music. Momiji playfully stuck out his tongue.

"I thought we had to go home." The blonde joked, earning a playful smirk from Haru.

"We can wait until their coins are used up."

-/-/-

"Ow-ow, hey - HEY!" Kyo finally tore Arisa's hand away from his ear and ripped himself out of her reach, grunting as he glared at her on the side walk.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!"

"Akito." Arisa said plainly, and suddenly Kyo realised his mistake. One of his many.

"I wanna know why you were threatening to get Tohru in some kind of trouble." Kyo huffed and turned red. His anger had gotten the best of him - again.

"I didn't mean it, okay! It was just to keep that little runt from opening his big mouth-"

"_And_ I want to know who this guy is that it's _soo_ damn important that he not find out about us." Arisa stood opposite a huffing Kyo on the side walk, her hands set calmly and sternly on her hips while she waited for Kyo to finish his stress-expressing huffing.

"Maybe..." he started through gritted teeth, "We _should_ talk about this over dinner..." with Uotani, he doubted there was any way he could get out of telling her. He wouldn't have to explain _everything_ - he _couldn't_ - but he could explain enough to satisfy Tohru's protective yankee comrade. He had to admit, it was stupid of him to use Tohru as leverage around Arisa, especially when she didn't even know what the hell he was talking about.

"Alright then." Arisa nodded firmly and stepped to the side, waiting for Kyo to walk ahead of her, as if she felt she had to keep an eye on him to keep him from running away.

Grumbling, Kyo stuffed his fists deep in his pockets and slouched into a forlorn stride. Arisa fell into line behind him, strutting much more authoritatively. The couple was dead silent the rest of the way to her house. This was not a way to bring a first date to a close.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Ahhhh, not Akito! Does anyone else suddenly feel depressed when they hear/read that name, or am I the only one that gets _that_ involved with character relations o.O I think I'm just an overly empathetic person. Then, there's the fact that I've read one too many fanfics about certain :cough: relationships with certain lovable princes and certain loatheable heads-of-families xD Anyway.

Right-o, just to jog your memories, Hanajima, Shigure, Yuki and Tohru played a little card game called 'Spades' this chapter. Freaking awesome game. Admittedly, I don't know exactly how all the scoring works, but I can inform you of some of the basic rules, so the 'tricks' and whatnot make sense xD

First, you get together a group of people. I believe that four is, in fact, the traditional number, but you can play with more or less. You can play either in teams or as individuals. Obviously, with just three people, you'd need to be individual, but with Yuki, Tohru, Shigure and Hanajima, we got to be on teams. because teams rule :3

For those of you who are familiar with the card game Hearts, the rules are similar in terms of game play. The entire deck is dealt out to all players - if there's extra, then those cards are set aside in what's called a 'kitty.' Players may wish to sort their cards into the different suits - spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds.

After looking through your hand, you would then place a bet as to how many 'tricks' you think you can take.

A 'trick' is referring to the group of cards that is played every round. So, Hana would play a card, and then Tohru, and Shigure, and then Yuki. (assuming they were sitting in that order, of course. But team members do sit every other one, so it would be close to that) Once those four cards are played, the highest card in the suit that was led, takes the trick, and gets to add it to their total at the end of the round.

The reason Hana remarked that a more clever nickname would be the 'Ace of Spades' is because that is the single most powerful card in the game. If you play the ace of spades, you are garenteed to win that trick, because there is no card higher than it.

Why is it more powerful than, say, an ace of diamonds? Well, like the name of the game might possibly suggest (or, maybe it's not very obvious. whatever xD) spades are trump cards. Normally, if the first person to play a card that round played, say, a diamond, and you did not play a diamond, then there's no way you can win that round. But, if you play a spade (which you could only play if you had no diamonds) then the spade trumps all other cards, and the only thing that could win the round is a higher spade. So, for Shigure to be nicknamed the 'king of spades' was kind of pointless, when there was a card even better than that. The king of spades is still a nice card to have, but why be named after the second-best card in the game when you could name yourself for the first? Sometimes Shigure makes no sense. 's why I luff him so xD

Now, this whole time, I've been giving you the impression that taking tricks is always a good thing. It's not. When Shigure bet 0 that first round, he made it so that it would be a rather large penalty if he took even one trick, which is why Hana took a trick for him, because it was much less of a penalty for her to go over her 9-trick bet, than it would have been for Shigure to go over a 0-trick bet.

What Yuki and Tohru bet was much more reasonable. Hana's bet of 9 was simply insane, as that almost _never_ happens. But, you know, it's Hana, anything can happen xD

Lesse, what else :rubs chin: Like I said, I'm not entirely sure on the scoring, but the scores for the first round of Shigure, Yuki, Tohru and Hana's game were something like this:

Because, between them, Hanajima and Shigure bid 9, and scored 10, they received 80 points. They had a potential 90, if they had taken 9 tricks, but they were penalized 10 points for taking one extra trick. There's a version of the game where they would have gotten 91 for taking an extra trick, but I like the version that motivates you to stay as close to your bid as possible.

However, we also have to factor in Shigure's 0-bid. Because he bid 0 and scored 0, they get 50 bonus points (since scoring 0 tricks is near as dificult as scoring 9) so their end score that round would be 130.

I also just recently learned that you can bid a "blind nil" or a "double-blind nil," as well. Fascinating stuff.

Blind nil is simply where you call your bid of 0 before even looking at your cards. Dangerous, because if you glance down and see you have an ace of spades, it's all over.

Double-blind nil, is where, not only to you call your bid of 0 before looking at your hand, but you also play cards that round without looking through your hand. i.e., you pull out a random card each round and flip it over for all to see as the card you played. Very risky, because you have no control over it whatsoever, but it's worth a hell of a lot of points.

Anyway, Yuki and Tohru were in a much more depressing boat. Between them they bid 6, but only scored 3. Luckily, scoring 3 isn't any worse than scoring 5, although, again, there might have been a version of the game that does penalise you for not getting as close as possible.

Because they fell short of their potential 60-point score, Yuki and Tohru got a saddening -60. If they had bet 5 or 4, they would've gotten -50 or -40.

random tid-bit rules: The dealer is technically supposed to bid last, but, eh, no one really cares about order. They're also supposed to bid so that it's impossible for everyone to satisfy their bids (AKA, bid a number that, when added to everyone else's bid, doesn't equal the number of cards in your hand. This rule we actually followed; Shigure's 0 + Hana's 9 + Yuki's 4 + Tohru's 2 15. They had 13 cards in their hand (52 cards/4 people 13). Simple math. Yay.

Also, the 'kitty' that I spoke of earlier, we need to go back to. Let's pretend we have five people, so we actually have a kitty; 52 cards/5 people 10 cards in each hand, and a 2-card kitty. The kitty doesn't really make a difference in Spades, though; those cards are just left out of the game.

You can also take out however many 2's are needed to make the deck euqally divisible. I like the random taking out of cards though, because it makes the game more interesting :3

Aaaaand, I think that's about all you have to know about spades.

Ooh, I'll quickly explain Hearts though. It's a little more complicated, but as long as I'm on this tangent, y'know. It's like my little bonus feature for making you guys wait over a week for the last chapter xD nehoo.

Game play is very similar- All cards are dealt out, and any extras are put into the kitty. Then, the person next to the dealer leads with a club (if they have no clubs, they lead with a diamond, I'm pretty sure) This is because there are not "points" in the clubs suit.

Now, the huge difference between Spades and Hearts is that in Spades you're only concerned with the number of tricks you take; in Hearts, you're concerned with _what_ you take in each trick. Hearts is a sort of odd game, since you don't want points. The cards that give you points are as follows:

Any heart card: one pt.

Jack of Diamonds: -10 pts.

Queen of Spades: 13 pts.

This is why Hana suggested that, in reference to hearts, a better title would be the Queen of Spades. The Queen of Spades freaking owns the game. It's basically the one card you don't want to win in a trick, since it carries so many points. The person who has the Queen of Spades in their hand probably has the most power in the game.

I suppose she could also have sugested the Jack of Diamonds, since it's the card that everybody's trying to get, but it just doesn't have the same ring. Plus the card has almost no power; generally, luck rather than strategy determines who gets the card, since the people who have it hold onto it until the end, hoping to gOd that the last hand is led by a very low diamond.

Ah, yes, actually, before game play begins, and after you're dealt your cards, you're allowed to give three of your cards to the person on your left, while the person on your right gives you three of theirs. The next round, you give three one person to your right, and then two to the left, two to the right, three to the left, three to the right, etc, until you've given to everyone. At that point there's a hold hand, in which you're stuck with the cards you're dealt, and the next round the cycle starts over again.

You can also play Double Hearts. I like this version much better, because aces aren't always garenteed to win tricks! In this version, even a 2 can win a trick, which is always fun :3

Double hearts is played with two decks of cards, so there's two of each card; hence, _double _hearts. It adds a new facet to the game, because when two cards of the same value are played (such as two Queens of Spades) then they cancel each other out, and can't take the trick. In the case that two cards cancel each other out, the single card of the next highest value takes the trick.

With that, I think that's about it for Hearts and Spades. xD How's that for a bonus feature, learning about card games. w00t. I'm such a dork, I still play board games and card games with my parents and grand parents all the time. Tis freaking fun o anyway. maybe some time I'll teach you guys Nertz, but for now, my fingers are getting soar, and you're probably getting tired of reading about card games xD Til next time! as always, read, enjoy, review! nyaha.


	5. Dinner Date Wrapup

**Reviewer Replies:**

**Leigh**: In the anime it's a dark forrest green I do agree, in the manga it looks pretty well black. Not entirely sure why they decided to make in green in the anime, but shrug who knows!

**J-chan**: Is it okay if I call you that? Anyway, yes. I had way too much fun with Momiji xD that little critter makes me laugh like none other. Except for mebbe...Shigure and Ayame xD Anyway, the dinner date is quite fun. Although I'm not entirely sure it's something to look forward to, more like dread xD ahhh :dies:

**flue4ever330**: LoL! We should...make...an Emily legion! yes! A race of Emily-supremists! All people named Emily are hereby supreme! All people who praise anyone named Emily come high on the authority list however:glomps all reviewers not named Emily: we still love you too of course! xD

**The Greatest Fudge**: I'm glad; indeed; thanks again; and I will! or...did! xD anyway always happy to have another reader:dances:

**The Cheshire Katt**: woah. wait. :double-glance: Akito's a... :gasp: GIRRL:dies of shock:

lol no, I kid, I kid, I already knew. Damned AIM chat told meh. xD hah, funny story actually. And now you get to hear it :3 mwahahahaaaa **Spoiler Warning**, though. well, not really. Sort of o It's a lot less of a spoiler than Akito's gender, which has already been revealed. But ah well, if you don't already know about certain :cough: relationships then don't read the next two paragraphs, I guess. it doesn't really matter though. just thought I'd give you spoiler-phobes a heads-up.

Okay, so I was in a random AIM chat with a bunch of my buddies from the message board I go to. (Actually, a lot of them I didn't even know, but we're all from the same message board, so it's all good! lol) Somehow, we got on the topic of furuba, so, I start going on about how Shigure's awesome and all that crap (I swear I fell in love with him. yep.) and this one chick goes "wanna hear a secret?" being the curious type, I go "SURE!" and she tells me Shigure and Akito are an item (this was when I was still working on the anime, I hadn't even started on the manga). god help me, I burst out LAUGHING! That was the last 'secret' I'd expected to hear about Shigure xD And for some reason, I found it truly amusing. hence the laughter.

Well, my friend was in the room, and asked me what was funny. I told her, and she gives me this huge look of shock and realization and freaking gasps, and goes "But- He can't be gay with HIM!" So, I laugh at the idea, and report my friend's response to the chat room. At which point the chick goes, "Hey, Emily, wanna hear another secret?" I could guess, but I said "sure" again, and, lo and behold, I was informed of Akito's femininity, however the fuck you spell that! xD ahh, I was laughing for the longest time. it's not really that funny now that I look back on it, but it was freaking hilarious at that point in time xD ahh, the conversations I have.

Wow, I like to break out into stories. Ah well. You guys know you don't have to read this crap if you don't want to. It's just my way of feeling more casual about this I guess. Plus I think it's fun xD

Oh, yeah, one more thing, Chesshy...HELL YEAH, GIRL! BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THAT BITCH! xD :grabs a fly swatter and joins you:

Okay, I'm calm. I'm so happy though, 12 full reviews! xD God, my older stories are pathetic xDD Whatever you do, don't breed high expectations out of this story and go read my older stories thinking they're going to be great because in truth...they suck ;; Kirby's Kwest is probably the most decent one, just because it's insany was bred on insanity and needed little to no plot, let alone decent writing skills xD

Anyway, on to more relavant matters. The only problem is if you guys keep giving me more reviews each chapter, I won't be able to respond to all of them! Ahh the horrors! xD

**Chapter Summary**: Some stuff with Yuki and Tohru, and Kyo and Uo's dinner-date. What more need you know? Let's do say, however, that /something/ is starting to blossom :3

**Author Comments**: Sorry this update took so long. Between visits to relatives and youth group canoe trips, I've been kind busy this week. :bows down and beggs forgiveness:

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Thank you for the delightful afternoon," Hanajima majestically stood, giving the three still sitting down a deep bow.

"Oh, it was so much fun!" Tohru gasped, clasping her hands under her chin. Yuki smiled and looked from his cute little Tohru up to Hana.

"Are you leaving, then?"

"Aww, but we were winning!" Shigure complained as Hana nodded her head.

"I have to say, Shigure, you made for a talented partner," The dog blinked, his grin fading to a surprised gape. He had hardly expected to be praised by Hanajima for his mad spades skills.

"Yes, well," he grinned again, pulling his arm up to rub at the back of his neck, "I did say they used to call me the King of Spades..."

"It's still a ridiculous nickname..." Yuki hid his laughter. Now that Tohru understood Hana's comment, she let herself giggle, and she wished Yuki would let loose, too. Hanajima ended the moment as she turned dramatically to slowly make her way to the door.

"Oh, Hana, wait!" Tohru jumped up and hurried after her. "Don't you want to stay for dinner?"

"No thank you, Tohru." Hana shook her head, though smiled, "Megumi has a friend coming over for dinner that I would like to meet. Perhaps another time."

"O-okay. Tell Megumi hi for me, 'k?" Tohru gave Hana her trademark doofus grin, and Hana smiled sweetly back before turning to face Yuki, her arm hung lovingly over Tohru's shoulder.

"Take good care of my Tohru." she ordered plainly.

"I will!" Shigure announced happily and held up a peace sign, earning an embarrassed sigh from Yuki. Hana couldn't help but grin in amusement, and then silently made her departure.

"Bye, Hana!" Tohru stood on her toes and waved, although the green-haired girl had stopped watching quite a while ago. Yuki quickly gathered up the cards while Shigure stood and stretched.

"Well, I have some writing to do," he said, "You kids have fun. Don't do anything _naughty_ while I'm not looking!" The playful dog gleefully skipped back into his study, leaving the teens standing awkwardly and blushing roses. It hadn't been a big deal when Shigure made jokes like that before, but now that they both realized how they felt about each other, well... all they could really do was blush about it.

"W-well, I better go get started on dinner!" Tohru happily announced.

"Alright," Yuki nodded, "I'll go check on my secret base, then."

"Okay!" Tohru chimed, "Supper'll be done when you get back!" The two exchanged a few warm smiles before going their separate ways - Yuki to the garden, and Tohru to the kitchen - while Shigure giggled innocently in his study. Having a couple under his roof was entirely too much fun.

-/-/-

"HEY OLD MAN!" Uotani called, slamming the door behind her and Kyo. With no response, she ventured into the living room, letting out a deep sigh to find her father asleep in his chair, beer bottle in hand.

"Jeez," she muttered, walking over to slip the bottle from his fingers and throw it in the trash, "I never thought I'd be glad to find him passed out," she murmured before tossing a threatening glare back to her dad, "But boy Mr., you're in trouble when you wake up!" With a huff, she directed Kyo back into the kitchen/dining room and popped two bowls of Raman in the microwave.

"Sit." She ordered bluntly to Kyo, and motioned for the table. Kyo silently obeyed, his imaginary cat-ears tucked tightly back against his hair. There was a long, awkward silence while Arisa stood by the microwave, waiting for the Raman to finish cooking. With a ding from the appliance, she popped it open and plopped Kyo's cup and some chopsticks in front of him before slamming the microwave door shut and sluffing down opposite him at the table.

"Akito," she said frankly after silence had its moment, "Who is he?" awaiting a reply from Kyo, she slurped some noodles up, and watched him expectantly while he poked fruitlessly at his cup. Truth be told, he hadn't _really_ been hungry, just tired of DDR.

"He's the head of the Soma family," Kyo replied, "And for some stupid reason us Soumas have to ask his permission for fucking _everything_."

"Why would it be so bad to tell him about you and me? He wouldn't let us be together?" Damn, Arisa got down to business when she was pissed. She wasted no time on tangents.

"Not exactly," Kyo said, "More like he'd beat the crap out of you just for the heck of it."

"Cheh." Arisa scoffed, "I could take him." Kyo started to object, but once again, Arisa wasted _no_ time on tangents.

"Now, Tohru. What happened '_last time_?'" At this Kyo huffed. Too much talk about Tohru and Akito and Arisa could pry something about his other form out of him. Next to Tohru, Arisa was one of the last people Kyo wanted to find out about _that_. And Tohru's naiveté had already been flushed down the drain, thanks to Kazuma. He didn't want Uotani's to to leave him, too.

"I _said_ what happened last time?" Arisa slammed her chopsticks on the table, illustrating her currently easily tried patience.

"There was a time a while back when we weren't sure if Tohru would be staying with us anymore, partly thanks to Akito," Kyo answered obediently after the display, "I wasn't there, but Yuki, Shigure and Hatori took her to see Akito, to see if she could stay. Akito didn't want her to, and..." he let out a sigh. He hated talking about Akito, as did most Soumas. He was also a little afraid of Arisa's reaction.

"AND...?" Arisa thumped her chopsticks decisively on the table again.

"And Akito ..._hurt_ her." Kyo was beaming red. Not with embarrassment like the last few days, but with pure, unbeguiled rage. He _hated_ that Akito had done that to Tohru.

"Like how?" A narrowed-eyed Arisa wanted to know specifics.

"I said I wasn't there!" Kyo shouted, but continued anyway, "That damn rat said that all he did was pull her hair, but... he and Shigure were holding him back. If it was just Akito and Tohru, he might've..." Kyo's jaw clenched tightly shut, and his forehead fell into a tensed hand. Talking about this made him so _angry_, he wanted to-

"Well, orangetop," at last, the questions seemed to be over. Thank GOD Arisa wasn't a very inquisitive person. "If you value your _life_ I better not hear you threatening Tohru like that again. You may be my boyfriend, but keep in mind that Tohru still comes first. A relationship is broken off easily, and then I've got the right to pummel you to a bloody pulp, got it!"

"I would _never_ do anything to hurt Tohru, okay!" Kyo bashed his fist against the table, though he kept his forehead buried in the palm of his other hand.

"I get angry and say stupid things at times, okay? I hate it, but it's who I am. I would _never_ do anything to hurt Tohru. She _is_ the main reason I didn't answer you right away."

"...This Akito guy..." Kyo blinked and looked back at Arisa, a little surprised to find her tone calmed down quite a bit. "What _would_ he do if he found out about us?" Kyo was silent for a long moment, and this time Arisa didn't press for a quick answer. Her time of anger was over, and now all that was left was worry.

"I don't know..." Kyo muttered and buried his forehead back in the palm of his hand, "He's a _psycho_, he's not predictable. I've never really met him, anyway - the cat's not _allowed_..."

Kyo blushed crimson when he heard hysterical laughter from the other side of the table, and he realized his mistake.

"Is _that_ what they call you?" Arisa sputtered, "'_The Cat_?' That is so lame!" the blonde laughed louder and let herself fall to the floor. Kyo watched in amazement at first - somewhat relieved that she didn't read too much into that - and then laughed a bit himself. The red that had flushed his face before in anger now made it hot with blush as he and Arisa chuckled about his lame nickname.

"Yeah, it is pretty lame, I guess," Kyo laughed, tucking his hand behind his orange head of hair. The two sat there for a good ten minutes, just cracking up. They had needed a release after all the tension Akito brought up.

Finally Arisa calmed her laughter and pushed herself up to her feet.

"Well, orangetop, I'm satisfied. You can go eat real food with Tohru now."

Kyo's laughter subsided quickly as he followed suit and stood after Uotani, eyebrow raised.

"But, Tohru thinks I'm eating dinner with-"

"Knowing her, she probably forgot and made you a meal anyway. If not, you can just steal from the prince." Kyo let out a brief chuckle at the idea, but shook his head.

"No, we agreed that I'd eat supper with you. I'll treat you to a restaurant."

"No-can-do," Arisa shook her head and motioned to the living room, "I've got some cleaning to do before this old ape comes-to."

"Alright, I'll help."

"Nope, I got it."

"Come _on_, Yankee, I'm _trying_ to be a boyfriend, here!"

"I said I got it, orangetop, now go home!"

"BUT I-"

"GO!"

"FINE!" Kyo started stomping out the door, but was stopped dead in his tracks by chuckles coming from Arisa.

"Don't be such a pushover, Kyon-Chan," she joked, "You can help."

"GOD DAMNIT, WOMAN!" Kyo yelled, but only earned more laughter from Arisa. It aroused a blush from him, too, seeing as he spotted some rosy pink on her cheeks again. He had to admit it was fun to see Uotani blush thanks to him, even if it was just because he'd gotten angry.

"Alright," he breathed, calming down, "I'll help then." Arisa giggled again.

"You're being a pushover again..." she teased.

"But I WANT to fucking help! Now what do I do!"

"Empty beer bottles need to be thrown away," Arisa said, "The full ones need to be hidden where only I can find them, and-"

"Why do you need to find them?" Kyo questioned suspiciously. Arisa innocently laughed.

"So I can drink them, of course!"

"WHY THE HELL CAN YOU DRINK BUT YOUR DAD CAN'T!"

"Cause it's not good for him."

"IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOU, EITHER!"

"I'm young, I can take it."

"THAT'S NO EXCUS-"

"-And the living room needs to be vacuumed, since he probably spilled some beer."

"...You can vacuum, I'll take the bottles."

"Alright!" With that the blonde scurried to find the vacuum cleaner, while Kyo started marching around the living room picking up empty beer bottles. He felt rather sorry for Uotani. Any man that could drink that much before passing out could likely beat Shigure in the drunk-acting competition. And anyone who was worse than Shigure had to be pretty damn obnoxious.

The two executed their chores silently and efficiently, and before no time the living room was spotless save for the man dozing in his chair.

"...Should we carry him to his bed or something?" Kyo asked as he studied the man. Arisa walked over after putting up the vacuum cleaner and shook her head.

"No, leaving him here is fine. Maybe we should turn him on his side, though...I think he could still choke sitting up..." Kyo narrowed his brow and blinked at her.

"Choke?" he asked.

"On his vomit. Sometimes happens when you're drunk and passed out." Kyo twinged at the thought and quickly helped Arisa maneuver her dad in the chair, so that his cheek was resting on the armrest and any potential vomit would come cleanly out into a large bowl Arisa placed under him.

"There," the blonde clapped her hands back and borth and then set them on her hips. "I don't think he actually got wasted enough to chuck it up, but better safe than sorry, yeah?"

"...yeah..." Kyo nodded, then moved around the chair and towards the door, his smile brightening.

"_Now_ can I treat you to some real dinner?" He triumphantly noted that Uo's cheeks flashed pink, and she smiled.

"Well, if you _insist_." With a smirk, Kyo stepped outside and held the door open for her, feeling a sudden urge to act like a gentleman.

"So," he said, walking up beside her once they were outside. "Any place in particular you wanna go?"

"Hmm, not really...how about seafood?"

"Sure."

"Alright," Arisa cheered, "Salmon, here I come!" Kyo chuckled, finding that Uotani resembled Tohru even a little more than he thought she did. In the enthusiasm department, anyway. His laughter choked, though, and his face burned red when he felt two hands slip around his arm.

"HEY!" he yanked away, blushing furiously.

"What did I say about PDA!" Ignoring the fact that holding his arm didn't qualify as hugging or forcing him to hold hands, Arisa drew her fingers away, and instead clasped her hands behind her back.

"Sorry, _gosh_," she said, though rather sarcastically and with a smirk, "I was just _trying_ to be a girlfriend, Kyon-Chan." Blushing redder, Kyo slouched back even more and faced forward.

"Yeah, well, whatever." Arisa laughed and moved closer to him, so that her shoulder bumped into his arm. As if the boy could _get_ any redder, he did, and reluctantly got Arisa's message. He slipped his fist out of his pocket, and Arisa's touch made him unclench it. The two hands gently intertwined, and Arisa moved closer to bump into Kyo's shoulder again, this time staying nuzzled against it.

Kyo was surprised that he was comfortable with this - although, due to his incessant blushing, comfortable wasn't _exactly _the right word - but it really did feel like, of all the people he knew - even Tohru - Arisa was the one whose hand he should be holding.

-/-/-

"I'm home." Yuki called softly as he returned from his garden. Kerchief-clad Tohru poked her head out of the kitchen.

"O-okay! Food's almost ready!"

"Alright." Yuki slipped upstairs to go change, realizing he was still in his school uniform.

The timing worked out pretty well; Yuki was returning back downstairs in his comfortable chinese-style shirt as Tohru was setting the last of four plates out on the table.

"Four?" Yuki blinked as he sat down at the table, wondering if Tohru had invited someone else. Tohru gave him a vacant "eh?" before realizing why Yuki was confused.

"o-OH!" she said, "I forgot! Uo said Kyo was staying for dinner... ohh, I'm sorry!"

"There's nothing to apologize about, Miss Honda," Yuki laughed faintly, "We'll just have an extra meal, is all."

"O-okay. ...What about Shigure, is he here?"

"I don't know."

"Well, his food is going to get cold. I'll go get-"

"No, no, Miss Honda, don't get up." before Tohru could argue Yuki was already on his feet headed for the novelist's study. "I'll go check on him."

"Um, 'kay..." Tohru nodded and spooned some stew into her mouth while she watched Yuki walk down the hall and peer into the novelist's study.

"Shigure?" he called, but anticipated no answer. Shrugging, he closed the door and walked back to the dining room.

"I guess he left while I was cooking..."

"He better not've gone to Akito." Yuki spat, suddenly irritated.

"O-oh, I don't think he'd do that. He said he-"

"Well, I guess I don't entirely trust him."

"I think we can. Maybe he just needed some fresh air." Yuki sighed and took a sip of his stew.

"I hope so."

The rest of the meal passed in awkward silence, both of the teens preoccupied by where Shigure had suddenly disappeared to.

Yuki offered to clean up his and Tohru's dishes while Tohru put away Kyo and Shigure's food. That little task passed in awkward silence, too, and after an hour of awkward silences, the teens weren't sure they could take much more. And yet, after an hour of not seeing Shigure, they were both increasingly worried that he _was_ having a deep-thought conversation with a certain sadistic somebody.

"Bye, Kyon-Chan!" Boy, if Yuki was ever glad to see Kyo, it was then. The blush-laden orange-haired boy waved out the door, smiling, before he slid it shut, and turned around to see Tohru and Yuki, standing rather awkwardly and starting at him.

"W-welcome home, Kyo!" Tohru greeted happily. Kyo glanced between her fake smile and Yuki's diverted scoff. Something was definitely wrong.

"Alright, whose funeral did I miss?" Kyo offered up blandly. Tohru bit down on her lip, wondering if she should tell him or not. Yuki made that decision simple.

"Shigure went missing while Tohru was cooking supper. This was _after_ we found out _you_ talked too loud last night and spilled the beans about you and Miss Uotani and Miss Honda and I. He's been gone for close to an hour now, and _I'm_ starting to wonder if he decided to have a heartfelt conversation with a certain _someone_ about our relationships."

Kyo's cheery mood faded quickly, as he and the rat engaged in a huffing staring contest, their eyes frantically pinning the blame on each other. Tohru sensed the tension and quickly stepped between them, stopping the glares from turning to fists.

"W-well, we don't know if he went to Akito. He-he might've just gone for a walk."

"YEAH, RIGHT!" Kyo hollered, "I'M SURE HE JUST-"

"Yuki, Tohru, I'm ho- oh, hello, Kyo." The three teens gaped as Shigure made an entrance, looking just as happy as ever.

"DAMNIT, Shigure! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that-!"

"Where were you?" Yuki demanded Shigure's attention with a blunt question, and the dog laughed a little nervously.

"Souma house," Tohru's heart stopped. She trusted him, and he-

"I _wasn't_ having a heartfelt conversation with a certain someone, though," tension in the room eased greatly - especially around Tohru - but Yuki still glared, discontent with the answer, so Shigure continued.

"More like watching him lay in one of Ha'ri's hospital beds with dangerously low blood pressure and a bad wheeze." Aand, Tohru's heart stopped again, this time drawing in a hasty gasp.

"Is he okay!" Yuki and Kyo both facefaulted; how could THAT be the first thing to come to her mind?

"Yes, Ha'ri says he'll recover soon enough, it was merely a scare." Tohru let out her breath, greatly relieved once again.

"Of course," Shigure continued, a little more lightheartedly, "When Aaya came to get me he made it sound like the poor boy'd gone into cardiac arrest or something." Kyo and Yuki both instantly looked at Tohru.

"Ayame was here, and you didn't hear him!" Kyo was in utter disbelief.

"W-well, there was this time I kept dropping the metal bowls, a-and they were really, um, clanky, and he might've come-"

"Tohru," Yuki calmly stopped her with a smile and a hand on her shoulder, "You don't have to justify it."

"Well," Shigure smiled, all somberness completely out of him, "Do I still have any food left? I'm _famished_."

"Oh, yes!" Tohru nodded, "I put it in the refrigerator - I'll heat it up in the microwave for you."

"Ah, thank you so much, Tohru."

"Ah-huh," the girl nodded again and skipped off to the kitchen to serve Shigure, before poking her head back out to look at Kyo.

"Oh, I forgot and made you supper, too...are you still hungry?"

"Nah," Kyo shook his head, unable to stop himself from grinning a bit, "I had plenty to eat with the Yankee."

"Ah, yes, how did that go?" Shigure chimed in from the table. Kyo reddened instantly.

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU LITTLE MUTT!" Shigure shrank in his seat, tearing a bit.

"Sorry, sorry...just...curious..." With a grunt Kyo turned around and started marching upstairs.

"I'm gonna go take a bath."

"Okie" Shigure waved, "Yuki can go next, I've already taken mine."

"Alright." Yuki nodded and sat down next to Shigure, finding nothing much better to do.

"Here you go!" Tohru emerged from the kitchen bearing a plate and set it down in front of Shigure.

"Thank you, Tohru." Shigure smiled and hungrily packed it into his mouth. Tohru giggled.

"Delicious as always, Tohru." Shigure happily reported between bites.

"Thank you." Tohru nodded.

"Tohru, I'll clean his dishes for you, if you like-"

"O-oh, no that's okay, Yuki-"

"But don't you still have that homework to do? From-"

"OOH!" Tohru instantly jumped up, suddenly alarmed. "OOH! Yes! I forgot!" Yuki couldn't help but smile and shook his head.

"You go on ahead and work on that. I'll be up to help you in just a minute."

"OOKAY!" Tohru was in no mood to argue. She grabbed her school bag and rushed up to her room.

"Yukii," Shigure whined, "I'm the one who missed supper - I _can_ clean my own dishes. ..I'm not _that_ lazy..."

"..Right," Yuki pushed himself to his feet, sweatdropping a bit. For some reason that option hadn't crossed his mind. With that taken care of he ventured up to Tohru's room, ready to help her sort through math problems.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

ope, no witty comments this time. I suppose I could beg forgiveness for the extended update again. Oh, and warn you that I'm nearing the point in the story where writer's block hit me. Hopefully my muse will return by the time we catch up with the story, but I guess I'm just giving you a heads up in case it doesn't ;.; if anyone sees my muse catch her and bring her back here for me, please!


	6. I Need a Brake

**Reviewer Replies:**

**Bomb-O-Maniac:** sweet, that was the most cryptic review I've had yet. But what's it meeeeaaannn :dies in the agony of suspense:

**animelover630:** huzzah, another fan. This is so much more exciting than my other stories (Ano...probably because my other stories _suck_...)

Hehe, a bunch of your friends rolled up into one, eh? So, that would make mee...your best friend? xD Hullo, new best friend! I wonder what Sarah will say when she hears about this :3 tee-hee.

**Chesshy:** yes. Rollos are my lovers. Aye for chocolare and caramel xD Anyway, I admittedly don't really like Tohru or Yuki either, which is probably why their parts are coming off as a little more boring. I do try though. :shrug:

And YES! lol. I'm a raving fangirl that calls Shesshomaru Sesshy even though I've only seen leik to epis! WOOTTT FOR MEEE! xD lol. I like nicknames, so what can I say:3 Besides, Chesshy sounds freaking cool.

**vivi scarlett-sedai**: YES! YOU FOUND MY MUSE! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU SOOOO MUCH:hugs: and, believe it or not, I did actually progress in the story tonight o.O creepy. lol. And, yet another fan:jumps up and down: I love you guys! xD yuss

**AllyEver & Rena-chan**: wow, now I feel bad. But...I'm getting too many reviews, I can't think of something witty to say to everyone xD Ah well, like always, glad to have new reviewers! And I'll try to update sooner next time, Rena, lest you get issed xD I don't think I wanna see that.

**Chapter Summary**: Another day, another turn in the relationship. What's Kyo gonna do about it?

**Author Comments**: I'm SOOOORRRY! I know, this update took forever. But after my cousins kidnapped me then my friends kidnapped me too and that ontop of band camp wore me out and all I wanted to do when I got home was vegetate and play KH...which I did (I'm on the brinc of beating the game within 3 nights' play xD It helps that I've played it before, though :3) And anyway, that's just kept me uber-busy. If it's any consolation, my RP friends are suffering, as well xD I should be able to slip back into my update schedule next time, though.

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"MWWWWAH!" Kyo was sickened by a pair of lips meeting his cheek when he arrived at school the next morning. Arisa simply seemed to find it amusing to turn him red.

"AUGH!" Kyo cried, pushing her away.

"DO NOT DO THAT!" he frantically wiped his cheek off with his sleeve, thankful that Yuki and Tohru had decided to walk to school early that day, since today he really _did_ need help with student council stuff. The hell if Kyo'd ever let that damn rat see him get kissed.

"Sorry," Arisa sputtered out through laughter, "I just wanted to see what you'd do."

"Yeah, well, next time you'll get a black eye, alright!"

"Okay," Arisa said, but her grin told Kyo she didn't _really_ get the message.

"But I do get to hold your hand."

"Hell NO!" Kyo yanked away before Arisa could grab at him.

"Fine. But you never said I couldn't do this," moving more quickly this time, she managed to snag his arm in her grasp, and Kyo flushed red again. "But I feel kinda clingy when-"

"FINE!" Kyo ripped his arm away and held his hand out instead, "You can hold my fucking hand, but no kisses and definitely no...clingly...thing..."

"Alright," Arisa grinned, triumphant again, and snagged his hand in hers. They walked to class like that, Kyo as red as a tomato, and Arisa a pleasant pink. There were murmurs of rumors being confirmed, reddening Kyo further, but they didn't run into any trouble until the obnoxious three-sum showed up.

"Hey, Uotani!"

"BUZZ OFF!" Minami and her clique shriveled under the weight of Kyo and Arisa's shared voice, and the two continued hand-in-hand down the hall, turning right into class.

Yuki and Tohru were already there, plotting something over a piece of paper. Saki was standing blankly behind them, but didn't seem the least bit interested in what they were doing.

"So, what have you three been up to?" Arisa dragged a tomato-colored Kyo over to the desk, peeking to see what they had written down.

"uhm, well..." Tohru looked nervously to Yuki, her eyes asking him if it was alright to tell. Yuki smiled meekly at her nervous behavior, and gently shook his head before turning to the blonde and the red-head.

"Student counsel proposed a new fund-raiser," he said, "We're thinking about instituting a game night."

"Well that sounds fun," Arisa chimed, but was cut off by Hana.

"Not really..." the green-haired girl tilted her head to the side as she earned the sudden glances of the other four. Seeing their bewildered faces, she went on to explain;

"Another loud, chaotic social event...It will be a nightmare to organize."

"Oh, I think it'll be fun, Hana!" Tohru gave her friend a cheerful smile, while Yuki let out a soft laugh.

"It _will_ be a nightmare to organise though," he admitted sheepishly, before laughing again, "But I think we'll manage. The Cultural festival is fun enough, I think the students could use another social event like that."

"I can't believe you didn't want to do this before," Arisa chimed in, releasing Kyo's hand to pull back her bangs, "You know you're really good at this student delegation thing." Yuki blushed, a little embarrassed to get praise for this.

"She's right, you know..." Hana said, tilting her head to the other side, "I've noticed students are much happier than they were with our previous student body president..." Tohru stifled a giggle.

"Especially Haru." Arisa chuckled.

"Anyway," Yuki was still smiling from amusement, but tried to head onto a more serious note, "I really should get back to sketching out some plans." Tohru let out a gasp.

"Oh! Yuki, I'm sorry! I'm distracting you... maybe I should-"

"No, no, Miss Honda," Yuki gave a light chuckle and shook his head, "I was letting myself get distracted. I can still use your help."

"O-okay." The brunette was lead to blush, sensing that Yuki had other reasons for wanting to keep her around than just helping out with the game night planning. Hana sighed and started to move away.

"I believe I'll go and read for a bit."

"Chou, Hana," Arisa raised a hand to the departing Hanajima, while Tohru said her "good bye!" and waved, as well. Kyo stood, as he had been since they arrived, until Arisa grabbed a hold of his hand again, yanking him over towards his desk, leaving Yuki and Tohru chattering over a piece of paper again.

"You wanna play spit?" she asked, holding up a deck of cards.

"Not really," Kyo murmured, propping his feet up on his desk and leaning his orange-flecked head against the window. Arisa placed the cards back in her pocket and tried again.

"Take the Ending?"

"Hell no."

"Well, what d'you wanna do? I guess, we've got a bit before the bell rings, wanna go take a quick walk?"

"No."

"Is there something you wanna talk about-?"

"No. I kinda just wanna sit here, if that's not too much to ask." A brief glare from Kyo - compiled with his furious blush - won Arisa over, and she gave him a grin.

"Okay then," she said, plopping herself in the desk in front of his.

"But I get to hold your hand." Grinning, she set her hand palm-up on the desk between them, beckoning for Kyo to take it. The orange-haired boy glanced awkwardly at the hand for a moment, watching Arisa open and close her fingers to continue motioning for him to take it.

With a sigh, he slapped his hand down on the desk next to hers, leaving it up to the blonde to actually do the hand-holding, but making his readily available. Arisa followed through and slipped her fingers around his, inducing a blush from the both of them.

The two looked out the window in silence for a while. Kyo had his forehead mushed against the glass, and Uo had set her head down on the desk, cushioned by her other arm. After a while, the blonde took in a breath.

"Kyo..."

"hm?" The orangetop moved his head, but didn't quite look at her. Arisa paused a moment, then continued, neither of their eyes deviating from the strangely interesting grass down below.

"...Is this really working? Or did you just not want to say no?" The cat was silent for a long moment, then finally let out a sigh, shaking his head against the glass.

"No, Yankee, it's working. I just need my space, is all." Arisa sighed and sat herself up, relinquishing Kyo's hand from her grip.

"I'll give you some, then. Hana looks lonely." Kyo took his head from the glass to watch Uo slip by, breezing him lightly with her fingers on his shoulder, before meandering over to the desk of her green-haired friend.

Sighing, Kyo sluffed his head back against the glass and crossed his arms. He _hoped_ this was working, at least. The last thing he wanted to find out was what Arisa Uotani was like depressed.

-/-/-

The day went on, and Arisa stuck true to her word and gave the cat the space he asked for. She hadn't asked him to do anything after school, she hadn't passed any notes, and she hadn't asked him to hold hands since she ventured over to Hana first period the day before.

During that time, Kyo saw Yuki and Tohru chattering away as friendly as ever, blushing, smiling, laughing, giggling... he wished he could have that comfort with Arisa. He had enjoyed their time at the arcade the other day, and especially the dinner that they had afterwards, and even after their little scoff yesterday, he was finally starting to convince himself that saying yes to Uotani was the right choice.

But all of it was filled with flustered, awkward Kyo. Now that Arisa had given him the breather he'd asked for, he wanted to give the blonde the gentleman she deserved.

"Hey, Yankee," he said, earning an astonished blink from Arisa. "I, I wanna make you dinner tonight," Kyo wanted to cast his eyes to the side like he usually did, but instead he kept the orange orbs fixed on the blonde's eyes, which stared right back at him.

"Okay..." Arisa blinked. She obviously had not seen this coming.

"I'm _sorry_ about yesterday morning, it's just... listen, I feel bad now. The other day, when I told you I've never had a girlfriend before..I...I mean, it was sort of true, but...ah, screw it! You're coming over to dinner tonight and I'll explain it then!"

"Can Hanajima come along, too?" Arisa ignored Kyo's flustered mood and smiled sweetly at him, while Hana blinked up from her book, suddenly brought in to the conversation.

"Um, yeah, whatever, I guess.." Kyo didn't really _want_ her to come, but if Arisa did, well, he had already decided this night would be what Arisa wanted it to be, and that meant she could bring along who she wanted to. Hana seemed a little uncomfortable with this.

"Arisa, I don't want to intrude..."

"Naw, Hana, it'll be fun! You and me and orangetop and Tohru and the prince and Shigure! It'll be a blast! One big party!" Kyo was flushed, and his palms were starting to get sweaty.

When he was planning on proposing this, he was only thinking about him and Arisa being there. Suddenly realizing he'd agreed to fix dinner for six people set him kind of on edge, but he tried not to show it.

"Right, I'll make dinner for all of ya!" he announced, putting on a fake smile. Inside he was shaking up, but he didn't want Arisa to worry. Kyo hated to take advantage, but he was sure Tohru would help. Come to think of it, though, he probably should have talked to Tohru about this dinner thing first. Hopefully she'd understand.

"Hey, orangetop, Hanajima and I are going to play badmitton after school, then. You want us over at, what, five?" Kyo sighed and rubbed at his orange head of hair.

"Eh, better make that six. And I wouldn't worry about being late, either." Arisa gave a laugh.

"Alright, we'll be there at six-thirty, then."

"Okay," Kyo nodded and walked back over to his seat, waiting anxiously for the bell to ring.

-/-/-

"Not walking home with Uo, today, Kyo?" Tohru inquired when the cat walked up beside her before she left the school grounds.

"Nah," Kyo shook his head, "She and Hanajima are going to play badmitten."

"Ooh, sounds like fun!" Tohru chimed. Kyo blinked about, noticing it was just him and Tohru.

"What about that damned rat? Where's he off to?"

"Oh, Yuki decided to stay after and work on planning that game night with some other student counsel members. I offered to stay and help, but he said since I wasn't on the student counsel I wasn't really supposed to." she sweatdropped, sounding a little disappointed, but still as cheery as ever.

"Hey, Tohru," Kyo said, earning a "hm?" and a blink from the brunette.

"Is it okay if Arisa and Saki come over for dinner tonight? Y-you don't have to fix anything, I promised Uotani I'd make her dinner."

"Yes, that sounds wonderful!" Tohru nodded excitedly. "I can still help you make dinner though. I don't have to work tonight!" Kyo smiled. Tohru's cheerful demeanor always was able to cheer him up.

"You don't have to, Tohru-"

"No, I want to! This will be fun!" Kyo smiled again, relieved that he wasn't making Tohru do more cooking than she wanted to. He would volunteer to cook dinner more often, take the load off of Tohru, but Yuki and Shigure didn't seem too happy with Kyo's cooking, and the teasing those two put him through would be far from worth it. Well, tonight they'd just have to suck it up and deal with it, although the meal would likely be better than normal with Tohru's help.

The two set out to planning the meal as soon as they got home. Kyo told Tohru he wanted it to be really fancy, and the girl took out all the fanciest cookbooks she could find. The two friends were on a flower-covered floor beating eggs when Yuki walked into the kitchen, blinking.

"What are you two up to?" he asked, observing the surroundings.

"O-oh, Yuki, hi! Welcome home!" Tohru stood and clapped off her hands before walking over and grabbing Yuki's arm in place of a hug. The taller boy blushed a little, petting Tohru on the head in return. Kyo glanced up, murmured something - likely about a damned rat - under his breath, and went back to beating eggs.

"Kyo told Uo he'd fix dinner for her tonight, and she's bringing Hana along, too!"

"Ummm," Yuki's demeanor suddenly looked awkward, and he gently shrugged Tohru off, sweatdropping a bit.

"I guess you guys forgot..."

"Eh?" Tohru blinked, tilting her head to the side as she waited for Yuki to explain.

"Shigure was inviting Haru, Momiji and Hatori over for dinner tonight. That's why he's not home - he's over at Hatori's place." Tohru drew in a sharp gasp.

"OOH! He told us last night, I forgot! This is awful, what do we do, what do we do!" Kyo set the egg beater down and grumbled. He didn't remember any of this. That stupid mutt must've announced it while he was up on the roof.

"We make dinner for three more people." Tohru was instantly silenced as she blinked back to Kyo.

"Oh. Will Shigure mind...?" Yuki shook his head, while Kyo resumed beating eggs after chucking six more into the mix.

"I'm sure Shigure will be fine with it. Momiji will surely be thrilled."

"Oh, but Kyo, are you going to be okay?"

"Yes..?" he was a little confused as to why Tohru was worried about him.

"I mean, well, you had a night planned for Uo, it's going to be hard with Momiji around, and they don't know about you and Uo yet, either," then she gasped, "They don't know about me and Yuki, either!" Her eyes were wide and circling, and she suddenly felt dizzy with the added stress. Kyo rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Well, Haru and Momiji do. We ran into them at the arcade."

"Ohh, but Hatori! He might tell Akito and-"

"Miss Honda," Yuki pulled her head under his arm, substituting for a hug.

"Don't worry, we'll manage. If Hastuharu and Momiji know, and haven't said anything yet, they probably won't tell Akito. As for Hatori, I think Shigure would be happy to distract him. It would be perfectly reasonable for those two to talk in Shigure's study while we all play cards in the dining room."

"Yuki, you're a genius!" Tohru beamed. Kyo looked back down to the eggs and muttered something else about the damned rat.

"Alright, it's settled." Yuki nodded and gently nudged Tohru back towards her pan of flower.

"You two finish fixing dinner. When Shigure gets home I'll talk to him. I'll likely have to entertain Momiji and Haru, anyway."

"O-okay!" Tohru waved as Yuki slipped out the kitchen door.

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Okay, kind of boring chapter. But it's the set-up for fun random chaos next chapter :3

Oh, yes, and I'm going to be off with cousins for the next week, so don't expect an update until tuedsay or wednesday next week, at the earliest. This is the one time I get to see my favoritest cousin for the whole year, so give me some slack. I'll be sure to get the next chapter up promptly after that, however, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long :3


	7. Too Many Discoveries

**Reviewer Replies**:

**animelover630:** OMG I LOVE YOU TOO::cries and embraces: err...yeah xD haha, Chinese food always bloats me too. but anyway...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I know it's late...but..yeah...the present was the update last week, and this week I'm actually saying happy birthday so ummm, yeah. I totally updated on that day last weeek just for you :3 hehe

**vivi scarlett-sedai**: yesh, it as a very weird coinsidence. If you hadn't found shdfi (yus...that's her namee... xD) I don't think this chapter would've been done for quite a while longer. I just finished it tonight! oye :dies: but yeah, I'll be sure to let you know if shee ever escapes her little box xD :locks muse box: haha.

**Sailor J-Chan**: then by all means kep reading. Hehe, this chapter is full of it xD

**Bomb-O-Maniac**: haha, that's okay. it gave me something to muse about and that's always entertaining xD hehe

**faol-sidhe**: wow, the new reviewers just keep coming::gleam: I'm so happy D in any case, yay, I'm always glad to hear that the Yuki/Kyo scene was natural. Makes me soooo happy that I actually pulled that off xD

Chapter Summary: well, certain people find out certain somethings. It's vague, I know, but basically this is the chapter where poor Tohru gets stressed to a pulp :pats riceball: poor Tohru xD

Author Comments: apologies again for the extended wait. Alas, despite Vivi's heroic endeavor to get my muse back, this is the last chapter I have written xP Likewise, I can't garentee how soon the next update will be. Hopefully I'll get another writing streak like I did in the beginning, and we'll be back up to a five-chapter buffer in no time especially now that Vivi's found my muse! D hehe

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The cooking duo was still stirring pans over the stove when a bouncy Momiji hopped into the kitchen, jumping onto Tohru with no regard to the fact she was cooking.

"HIII!" the young boy cheered before a poof sounded, and Tohru stood stiff, sure she'd had a heart attack. Kyo whacked the bunny off her back with his grease-laden spatula.

"DON'T COME STORMING IN HERE LIKE THAT! YOU COULD'VE MADE HER BURN HERSELF! CAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE COOKING!" Kyo huffed over the rabbit he'd knocked on the floor, while Momiji teared up and cried.

"Hey Kyo," the carrot-top snarled up at the white-haired boy that appeared at the door, a devilish grin on his face that screamed the fact that he'd gone black.

"What could you and your little _girl_friend there be doing that could possibly get her burnt? It doesn't have anything to do with candles and hot wax, does it? You two shouldn't be doing that stuff you know." He raised his finger and wagged it while his tongue clicked. Steaming, Kyo gripped tightly onto his spatula, while in the background a stunned, confused Tohru went silently back to stirring pans, for lack of anything to contribute to Kyo and Haru's conversation.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!" Kyo burst at Haru, "WE'RE COOKING DINNER FOR YOUR SORRY ASS!"

"Oh, really?' Haru scoffed, "I don't see you cooking. How about you drop that girlie spatula and come outside with me. Or would you rather stay in here and cook like a woman?"

"OH, YOU'RE ON, BESSIE!" With a grin Haru ducked out of the kitchen and Kyo raced after him, while Tohru yelled for him to 'wait' and 'come back,' all to no avail.

"Hatsuharu," Hatori's voice rang as he caught the teen by the collar running through the hall. Shigure played a similar trick on Kyo, while Yuki followed calmly after the two adults.

"Hey there, sweet, Yuki," Haru grinned, leaning hard against Hatori's grip, but not bothering to get away. Yuki groaned and hung his head. He was not in the mood for dealing with Black Haru. Shigure laughed nervously and nudged Kyo back towards the kitchen, while Hatori finally let go of Haru, who straitened himself up and gave Yuki a malicious leer.

"Eheh, Kyo, how about you go back and finish helping Tohru with dinner." Kyo would've kept running after the bastard, but Shigure and Hatori very purposefully stood in their way, keeping the teens from reaching each other.

With a grunt Kyo slouched and buried his fists in his pockets as he stomped back towards the kitchen. Halfway there the familiar poof sound rang, and a moment later a squeal from Tohru. Yuki couldn't help but smile foolishly, while Kyo grumbled about the stupid rabbit that came bounding out of the kitchen.

"WEE! Transforming is so fun!" Momiji beamed, overbubbling with energy. Kyo grit his teeth and finally lost it.

"YOU! RABBIT! TAKE YOUR STUPID COW FRIEND AND GO OUTSIDE OR SOMETHING - TOHRU AND I ARE TRYING TO COOK!" Sticking out his tongue, Momiji grinned and pulled down his eyelid.

"I don't like Kyo's cooking. Dinner is going to be icky!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE RUNT-!"

"WAHH! Ha'ri, Kyo's trying to hurt me!" Shigure had to hold Kyo back again, while Momiji raced past him and hid behind Hatori, who seemed unaffected by the situation. Haru, in his moment of freedom, had backed Yuki against the wall, one arm fixed firmly by Yuki's head while the other gently held up the older boy's chin.

"So, Yuki, what do you say we ditch this crowd and have a time of our own, eh?" The silver-haired boy sighed, rolling his eyes to the side.

"Haru, you do remember about Miss Honda and I, right?"

"So?" Haru superficially pouted.

"What about Tohru, Yuki?" Yuki and Shigure both stiffened as Hatori turned around to look suspiciously at Yuki and the cow. Haru just grinned.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ha'ri! The kids have been working diligently on this new project at school, and-" Shigure had started to usher Hatori into his study, when Hatsuharu stepped away from Yuki and the wall, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the boy behind him.

"They're going out, Ha'ri." he said plainly. Yuki groaned and rolled his eyes to the side, while Shigure sighed and bowed his head against fingers rubbing at his temple.

"They're so cuuuuute together!" Momiji chimed, unaware of the tension Shigure and Yuki were feeling, "You should see them at school, Ha'ri!"

"DAMNIT!" Kyo shouted, poking his head out of the kitchen as he overheard the conversation.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SPILLING THE BEANS, YOU LITTLE CALF! AND YOU! RABBIT! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" He threateningly waved his spatula, inducing a squeak from Momiji as the rabbit clamored behind Hatori again. The older man sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Akito will not be pleased." he said dully. Shigure whimpered.

"But-ah, Ha'ri, you don't have to _tell_ him...he-"

"Relax." Hatori said it as an order, shrugging Shigure's hand of his shoulder.

"I've no interest in meddling. I can only warn you that it will end badly. Akito _will_ find out, whether from me, or someone else, or just by his own accord."

"Eheh, yes.." Shigure sweatdropped and continued ushering Hatori into the other room, nonetheless. Yuki glared at Haru from behind, while the boy reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly unaware of the sinister gaze, and meandered towards the kitchen.

"I'm hungry." he complained dully, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen.

"W-well, food's almost ready!" Tohru cheerfully announced, trying to pretend that she hadn't overheard the conversation. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust Hatori, but telling everyone was making her nervous. Today, it was just Momiji, Haru and Hatori...tomorrow perhaps it'd be Hiiro and Kisa...the next day, Akito. Kagura was bound to find out about Arisa and Kyo eventually, as well, and Tohru felt very, very sorry for when Kyo had to deal with _that_.

She blinked at the orange-haired boy as he muttered and murmured under his breath, taking his pan off the stove and dispensing it's contents onto a serving plate. He shoved roughly past Haru to deposit the plate on the table. Tohru awkwardly followed suit.

Yuki, in the meantime, hadn't moved from the wall, and simply continued his leer and the white-haired boy from a distance. Finally Haru acknowledged the glare and sheepishly returned to the silver-haired boy, slouching with his fists in his pockets like Kyo so often did.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, "It's just-"

"You're not_ jealous_, are you?" Yuki snapped, and Haru slouched further, turning a little pink.

"A little." the boy admitted. Yuki curled his lip in disgust.

"Maybe you _are_ just a stupid, foolish cow, Hatsuharu." with a scoff Yuki walked past, making his way to the kitchen to help Tohru and Kyo. He paused as he passed the younger boy, who, in his newly-arrived White form, was clearly ashamed of what he did.

"That's not how you show you care for someone." Yuki left Haru slouching in the hall, while Momiji blinked between the two boys, unsure what to do.

"I-I'm gonna go play with Ha'ri and Shigure," the blonde announced awkwardly before slipping into Shigure's study with the adults, leaving Yuki and Haru to continue their glowers.

-/-/-

"Tohru." Haru finally built up the courage to venture into the dining room where Tohru and her assistants were setting up. The brunette blinked and walked over to him, the incident with Hatori now out of mind. Since Hatori had said he wasn't going to tell Akito, she wasn't mad. She couldn't be.

"What is it, Haru?" she asked, giving him an innocent smile. Her cheerfulness brought a meek smile from the cow, and he looked sheepishly down to his feet for a moment, before meeting her in the eyes again.

"I can see why he likes you."

"Eh?" Tohru blushed a little, unsure what to say.

"...I'm sorry, Tohru. I really am happy for you two. I just...I was _Black_, you understand? I wouldn't-"

"It's okay, Haru." Tohru nodded, smiling calmly. Haru nodded back, his smile a little stronger now.

"IT'S OKAY!" Tohru sighed as Kyo entered the conversation, as enraged as ever. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE! I SPECIFICALLY SAID HATORI! I can't trust you with fucking ANYTHING, YOU DAMNED HEIFER!" Haru was silent for a moment, giving Kyo a cryptic glare.

"Technically...you only said not to tell Hatori about you and Uotani." Kyo had to admit, Haru got him there. Unfortunately, the cow went a step further, too.

"_You're_ the one who tried use Yuki and Tohru as blackmail." There was silence in the room for a moment, while Tohru and Yuki both looked surprised and - Tohru especially - a little bit hurt.

The four teens couldn't possibly have been more thankful for a loud "Hello!" and a cryptic "We're here." at the door.

Tohru rushed to meet her friends while Haru watched after her blankly. Kyo, in the meantime, pushed himself to his feet and followed after Tohru, figuring he should go to meet his girlfriend.

"Hii, Hana, Uo!" Tohru greeted, smiling childishly as Uo playfully ruffled the brunette's hair. Hana instantly caught sight of Haru, as well as the young rabbit that came bounding out from Shigure's study at the sound of new voices.

"Oh." Saki said, meeting eyes with Haru, "I didn't realize the younger Soumas would be here..."

"Well, Shigure and I sort of got off-base," Tohru apologized and gave a quick bow before Kyo could open his mouth to answer.

"I hope it's okay, but Shigure asked me last night if I would cook dinner for Hatori and Momiji and Hatsuharu, but Kyo didn't know."

"Naw, that's cool," Arisa grinned, "Now we just have an even _bigger_ party!" The blonde playfully flung her arms over the shoulders of her friend and boyfriend, inducing a violent blush from the orangetop and a playful squee from the brunette.

"Come on," Kyo rolled his eyes, ducking quickly out of Arisa's grasp before it tightened into a hug, "Lets go eat."

"Okay." still grinning, the blonde wobbled behind Kyo towards the diningroom table. It wasn't until they all sat down that Tohru quickly realized they'd forgotten a certain duo of adults.

"Oh!" she said, jumping up, "I'll go get Shigure and Hatori."

"Okay," was the mumble from Kyo, and the cheerful acknowledgment from Yuki and Arisa.

"I'll come with you!" Momiji jumped up and bounded off after Tohru back to Shigure's study.

In the meantime, Hatsuharu and Hanajima seemed well into a staring contest, both of them mentally picking out everything that they found strange about the teen across the table.

"Hana, you shouldn't _stare_!" Arisa playfully scolded before flopping over her friend's shoulder, bringing the girl's eyes away from the white-haired boy to look at her blonde-haired friend with a sigh. Kyo studied Arisa a moment before coming to a realization for her slightly off behavior.

"ARE YOU _DRUNK_!" the blonde grinned and turned mischievously to her orange-haired friend before holding up her thumb and finger, about an inch apart.

"Only a little." Hana sighed behind her as Kyo let out a bloodcurdling -

"WHAT!"

"I'm sorry, Kyo," Saki tilted her head to the side, sounding quite exasperated, "I tried to stop her, but...well, there was only so much I could do," Yuki and Haru both stared, somewhat in disbelief. It was again a relief when people oblivious to the situation entered, and the five teens turned to look at the other four house guests that marched down the hall. Arisa got a frighteningly happy grin on her face.

"SHIGURE!" she squealed, disgusting Kyo with how out-of-character alcohol could send the blonde teen. His disgust ended soon, however, when he saw Arisa jump up, arms spread, and start to run for Shigure.

The author blinked with the sudden friendly holler of his name, and hardly had time to react. Kyo and Yuki both dove from their seats in hopes of preventing the inevitable. Tohru did her part in pushing Shigure out of the way, only to ram into him and Hatori. In the same moment the cat and rat reached their destination and found themselves clamoring onto a bubbly Uotani.

The room was saturated with poof after poof, as both Tohru and Arisa found themselves on the floor surrounded by animals. Momiji and Hanajima both blinked in surprise as Tohru sat dazed and Uo picked up the orange cat next to her.

"Hello, Kitty!"

"Oh my..." Hana blinked.

Momiji looked around frantically, unsure what to do. Finding nothing better, the boy grinned, squealed, and threw himself on the still unmoving Tohru, adding a bunny into the mix.

Finally Tohru regained her composure - somewhat - and stood up, squealing and screaming like crazy.

"Ah! I dunno what to do! What do I do! Shigure, what do I do?" she clinged onto the black lab next to her, weeping into the animal's neck. Shigure let out a sigh.

"I think Ha'ri would like some water." he said frankly, and Tohru squealed again before rushing over to the sprawling seahorse and then making her way to the bathroom to toss him into the sink. That over with, she apologized to the dragon and rushed back out of the bathroom to find Momiji jumping around for blissful joy, Yuki and Kyo shooting sparks at each other as always, Shigure sitting insolubly aside, and Hana leering at the freakishly composed, unchanged Haru, who looked about the room indifferently.

"Look at all the ANIMALS!" Arisa seemed more gleeful than Saki had ever seen her in her life, as the blonde put the cat down and raced over to glomp the dog. Saki brought her gaze back to Haru again, and they commenced a brief staring contest, before the goth decidedly stood and walked over to the suddenly but only mildly intimidated Haru.

All at once she squeezed her eyes shut and harshly pushed herself against the white-haired boy. She seemed both satisfied and displeased that the poof sounded, and where Haru once sat a cow now stood. The green-haired girl prodded at it for a moment, retrieving some moos from the mammal, before she seemed somewhat content with her findings.

"Yes; I do believe this is Hatsuharu." she nodded decidedly.

"This would explain some things." she said simply, tossing her braid over her shoulder. "Although, it raises a few more questions than it answers..."

"I like the doggy!"

Tohru stood dumbfounded in the hallway at her two friends, Arisa having the time of her life and Hanajima hopelessly enthralled in studying the animals about her.

"I feel as though I've known all along.." Hana glanced about the room cryptically, "This transformation that has occurred...it seems...normal."

"Strange choice of words..." Shigure muttered, earning a sudden, heart-throbbing stare from Saki.

"I knew it." the girl murmured under her breath. The dog tensed as Hana moved closer, while the slightly comforting drunken Arisa moved away to glomp on the adorable bunny, who was bounding and leaping for joy as always. Hana stared at the dog for a long while, unnerving Shigure, to say the least.

"Speak."

"Woof?" This only earned a more deathly glare from Hana. Luckily for Shigure, there was a distraction.

Hana, Tohru, Shigure and Haru all looked down the hall as a loud poof was heard in the bathroom, and all of a sudden Tohru was scared to her senses enough to yank Hana and Uo out of the room. Uo refused to leave her rabbit friend, so Tohru let her take Momiji with her. As long as she kept hugging the boy it would be okay.

On cue, poofs sounded from the dining room like popping popcorn while the three girls waited in the kitchen.

"Tohru, why did we-" Hana was cut off by a nude Hatsuharu walking past the kitchen door, oblivious to the girls inside.

"I imagine that it's good that Arisa is unlikely to remember this." she commented blandly.

"Uh..huh..." Tohru, eyes spinning, moaned and wilted to the floor. She hated to think of it, but Shigure had warned her and Yuki that he could hide their relationships from Akito, but once the Zodiac was revealed..

"Tohru," Hana knelt down and set her arm comfortingly on the brunette's shoulder, seeing Tohru's pale and dazed condition. Strangely enough - or, not - the psychic seemed much more concerned with Tohru's sickly condition than the nude males about the house, or the rabbit Arisa still held gleefully to her chest.

"Miss Honda." Yuki entered the room fully dressed - though somewhat clumsily so - and emulated Saki in kneeling next to Tohru. A clothed Haru came marching in close behind.

"I'll take this." Haru said blandly as he lifted Momiji from Arisa's arms, but the blonde leaped forward in response and flung her arms around the cow, sounding off another poof. Hana casually glanced to Arisa as she coddled the mammal, while Yuki gently shook a dazed Tohru in an attempt to bring her to.

Hanajima finally got the bright idea to pry Arisa away from the cow and let it and the rabbit retreat to the dining room. Not that she entirely understood what had happened, but it seemed that contact with Tohru, Arisa and herself, for whatever reason, turned these Soumas into animals.

The only thing that she could fully make sense of was that letting Arisa hug them was bad. If she had any hope of completely deciphering the situation, it would be best to keep them all in human forms and speak with them as human beings. She couldn't look down upon them, really, though, considering she was an oddity herself.

With a sigh, Yuki carefully picked Tohru up, seeing as she wasn't stopping her nonsensical murmuring, no matter how strongly he prodded her.

"Yuki," Hana shot, "Where are you taking Tohru?" Yuki gulped, a little uneasy to be referred to so suspiciously by Hanajima.

"I was going to take her up to her bed to lay down."

"Hm." Hana glared a moment, as if deciding whether to trust him, and then slowly nodded. "Yes, that probably is a good idea. Her neck would get sore if we left her here in the kitchen." nodding, Yuki exited the door, and headed upstairs, while Hana stopped in the livingroom and sat down. Arisa followed her and quickly took to glomping her green-haired friend, squealing something about going to the faire after they were done with the petting zoo. Sighing, Saki looked up to the reader in the corner.

"Hatori." she said, blankly, earning a glance from the dragon. "You are a doctor, correct?" he nodded carefully. "Is there a sedative we could safely give Arisa? I think she will only make the situation worse." Illustrating her point, the blonde had skipped off to where Kyo was yelling at a chuckling Shigure in the hall, and eagerly glomped on her orange-haired cat.

"DAMNIT!" Kyo sneered as the poof sounded.

"Hehe, I found you, kitty!" Sadly, the feline was helpless as it was scooped up into the arms of the blonde, leaving Shigure stifling giggles behind his hand.

In the meantime, Hatori calmly rummaged through his medical bag, suddenly glad he'd developed a habit of bringing it, and pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills.

"I'll give them to her. She won't take medicine from anyone other than Tohru and myself." Hana walked over to take the bottle from Hatori, then glanced at the torn label, before looking back at him.

"How many?" she asked, earning a shrig from Hatore as he went back to his book.

"She's already inebriated - one should give the desired effect."

"Alright." The green-haired girl nodded and walked calmly towards the hall, before Haru and Momiji suddenly made their presence known with two loud poofs. Unfortunately, Hana's brain hadn't yet managed to overcome her instincts, and she turned her head to see two very nude boys standing infront of her.

There was a surprisingly unawkward moment of Hana gazing narrowly at Haru, while he gazed blankly back, and the young rabbit leapt around the room as always. It wasn't until Yuki came downstairs, blinking, and Hatori looked annoyedly up from his book, when the moment ended.

"Momiji, Hatsuharu, put some clothes on." Shigure, in the meantime, had completely lost it in the hall. Hana actually found herself a little embarrassed by the author's hysterical laughter, and shot him a single death glare to shut him up.

Haru waited a moment, then sighed. "Alright," he said, walking over to where his clothes were sprawled out by the kitchen and kicking them up into his hands. Momiji pouted but followed suit and walked over to don his clothes as well.

Hana did a smooth job of shrugging it off and continuing silently over to Arisa, who she found to be rolling about the floor while playing with her orange cat friend.

"Arisa." She said calmly, "Why don't you take one of these?" she held out the pill to her giggling friend, who blinked at it a moment before raising her eyes to Hana's.

"What is it?"

"It will.." Hana paused a moment to think up a convincing fib. It shouldn't be too difficult considering Arisa's current cognitive abilities, however.

"It will make all the animals want to play with you."

"Reeeally!" The blonde grinned and sat herself up, releasing the cat in her arms to run off and hide somewhere in the bushes outside. With a nod from Hana, she giggled and snagged the pill, downing it without so much as a glass of water.

"Good." Hana smiled and offered her companion a hand up. "Now what do you say we go find Tohru?"

"Sure!" Hana's grin faded when Arisa glomped roughly over her shoulder, almost sending the green-haired girl off-balance. With a groan she guided her blonde friend over to the stairs.

"Good luck." Hatori murmured from his book. Hana paused and glanced back at him.

"..Thank you." she remarked softly before readjusting the already fading Arisa on her shoulder and continueing on up the stairs.

With quite a bit of effort, the flower finally got her fish friend upstairs to Tohru's room, figuring she'd better deposit her half-drunk, half-sedated companion on a bed, and figured she'd go well with a traumatized Tohru.

She was mildly surprised to find Tohru sitting up on the bed, staring wide-eyed at the covers her hands wrung tight, and murmuring something about the Chinese Zodiac, animals, and someone named Akito.

"Tohru."

"Eh?" The brunette finally came back to her senses and blinked towards Hana's voice, startled to suddenly have company. When she got over _that_, her eyes couldn't help but meander to the passed out Uotani on Hana's shoulder. Hana caught the glance, tossed her own briefly towards Arisa, then looked back to Tohru while she took the blonde over to the bed.

"Is Uo alright! What happened! Haru didn't go black again, did he! Are he and Kyo fi-"

"Arisa felt compelled to have some drinks on her way over here. I'm very sorry." Tohru blinked, a little surprised, and then slid off the bed to make more room for Uo.

"Oh."

"Yes. I had Hatori give her a sleeping pill. There was no hope of holding a decent conversation with her in her current state. I hope you don't mind we let her sleep on your bed?"

"Ooh, not at all." Tohru glanced back to the sleeping Arisa, looking a little sad. She didn't think she recalled Arisa ever acting like this before. She hadn't been over to her house much, either, but she did get the impression that her father was the alcoholic type. She was just sad that her friend, for whatever reason, had come over intoxicated like that. She also wished she knew why.

"Arisa will be fine." Hana said calmly before leading Tohru into the hall and down the stairs.

-/-/-

"Ah, Tohru-kun is back!" Shigure gleefully waved as the girls made their way downstairs.

"Ah, Miss Honda." much to Kyo's annoyance, Yuki brushed off his current fight with the orangetop and moved quickly to meet Hana and Tohru in the hall.

"You realize I'm _going_ to need some answers, Souma-kun." Yuki paled a bit, as did Tohru, as Hana shot him a malicious glare. With a gulp and a sigh, the prince took Tohru's hand to lead them back into the dining room.

Haru and Hatori had made a pair in the corner reading, while Kyo had now moved his anger to antagonizing on Momiji. That left Shigure and Yuki sitting at the table, across from a suspicious Hana and a pale Tohru. This was a rather different gathering from their playful card game the other day.

"Well, Hanajima," Shigure started playfully getting down to business. If he was nervous - which, he was - he didn't show it. Instead, he had on a friendly smile, that said that he intended on holding nothing back. Hana, of course, still glowered suspiciously.

"I'm sure you're rather curious about this family n-"

"WAHH! Kyo's MEAN!" Hatori rolled his eyes and looked up from his book.

"Momiji, Kyo, why don't you two go to another room?"

"No, I'll be good!" Momiji instantly calmed and smiled before skipping over and plopping down on the other side of Shigure. Sighing, Kyo whisked himself out of the room. Tohru figured he was thinking now would be a good time to go hide out on the roof.

Hana watched the boys take their places silently, and when all had settled, nodded to Shigure to continue the conversation.

"Extremely." she said.

"Yes, well, have you heard the legend of the Chinese Zodiac?" Hana nodded.

"I have."

"This is going to sound peculiar..." Hana glared.

"Try me."

"Eheh, right. Well, to put it frankly, the Souma family is cursed." Shigure paused to give Hana time to comment, but the girl continued her malicious glare and did nothing to coax him on. Catching the message, Shigure continued.

"Whenever our bodies come under a great deal of stress, or, when we're hugged by a member of the opposite sex, we transform into one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac."

"A strange curse." Hana remarked blandly. Shigure couldn't help but chuckle.

"See? Now, I've always thought that myself. But, that's the way it is."

"Apparently. Are there any other ramifications of this...curse...? Surely nothing that will be of any danger to Tohru, I should hope..."

"No, not at all!" Shigure supposed it was a _bit_ of a fib, but not too much. Hopefully.

"Shigure..." Tohru looked up to him, sniffling. "We-we're going to have to tell Akito, aren't we?" Yuki turned his head to the side, while the author tossed a brief glance towards Hatori. With a nod from the dragon, the dog nodded sullenly, but without sacrificing his smile.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"This requires explanation." Hana cut in, frustrated that they were beginning to talk of things she was unaware of.

"Ah." Shigure nodded, ready to give another explanation. "Akito, you see, is the head of the Souma family. If the secret gets out, he has to know about it. Standard procedure. I went to see Akito when Tohru first found out about the curse, too."

"I see..." Hana's eyes drifted over to a still sniffling Tohru, and then snapped back on Shigure.

"I would like to tell Akito of this myself, in person."

"Umm..." Shigure's smile faded as he glanced over to Hatori, who finally lifted his nose from his book, in mild surprise at the request.

"Ohh, n-no, Hana, you don't want to-" Tohru stuttered, shaking her head nervously.

"Why not?" Hana looked back to her friend as warmly as she could, although she had to admit the tension of the last half our or so was starting to get her on her edgy side.

Before Tohru could stutter out a sensible answer, Shigure finished his glance-conversation with Hatori, and put a smile back on as he faced Hanajima again.

"If you would truly like to, then Hatori and I can accompany you to see him."

"Good. I must ask though..." Hana trailed off cryptically, apparently raising up a new tangent. "Hiiro and Kisa Souma...that can hardly be a coincidence."

Yuki looked up surprised, as did Haru and Shigure, though Hatori didn't seem as interested in this one.

"Y-you know Hiiro and Kisa, Hana?" Tohru asked, a little confused. She couldn't ever remember introducing them. My, this was a small world. Tohru could almost swear it was shrinking.

"Yes..." Hana nodded carefully. "They came over the other night, to eat dinner with my family, after I departed from card games with you, Shigure and Souma-kun. They were friends of Megumi's. I passed the same last names off as a coincidence, and the eerily similar signals off as drowsiness on my part. But with this...those two are cursed as well, aren't they?"

Shigure nodded, still a little wide-eyed.

"Yes, they are. Hiiro's the goat and Kisa's the tiger."

"Yes." Hana nodded and thought another moment, and then shot a determined look at Shigure. "Then Megumi will also accompany us, as well." Shigure and Tohru both opened their mouthes to speak, but before they got a word out, Hana stood and started down the hall.

"I'm taking Arisa home now. Tomorrow's sunday, so I would like to get this visit over with. I'll be over at noon, after I eat lunch."

"Oh..kay..." Shigure laughed nervously and brought his hand back to massage the hairs on his neck, which were standing on end after being in Hana's presense, especially under those circumstances.

"Akito won't be happy..." Hatori commented blandly from his book as he flipped a page. Tohru sighed and stood.

"Is it alright if I help Hana walk Arisa home? She won't be able to carry her all the way there by herself..."

"I'll come with you, Miss Honda." Yuki stood and walked after her, finally earning a smile fromthe brunette. The two walked upstairs after Hana, and soon after they all three returned downstairs, Hana giving a still-zonked-out Arisa a piggy back ride, while Tohru and Yuki stood readily at her side in case she started getting tired. Arisa wasn't exactly a petite girl, afterall.

Shigure and Momiji watched as the four left the house, while Hatori and Hatsuharu kept their noses in their books. Hatori, however, was the first to speak, though he didn't bother to stop his reading.

"How well do you think our new friend and her brother will fare, Shigure?" Shigure could only grin as he looked back to Hatori.

"I think you underestimate Hanajima," he said coyly and looked back towards the door again, though the trio bearing Arisa was well out of sight. "She'll give Akito a run for his money. I haven't met her brother, but I'd imagine he's quite a character, as well." Momiji blinked, suddenly recalling something.

"I think I remember Kisa mentioning a Megumi before..."

"Yeah," Haru nodded without looking up from his book, "He can curse people. That's what she told me."

"Hm." Hatori mused, "tomorrow should be interesting." Momiji pouted and tugged on Shigure's sleeve.

"You have to promice to tell me all about it when you get back okay!"

"Oh, don't worry," Shigure grinned, "we will."

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

See? Now, I told you that was gonna be fun, didn't I? xD haha, well, it was entirely too much fun to write. I told you hana was going to have a special role to play, too, didn't I? DIDN'T I! xD lol sorry, I'm quite hyper at the moment. Sadly, sicne I haven't written the next chapter yet, I can't garentee too much of what it will be like, but considering Hana and megumi are going to have a confrontation with Akito, my bet is that it'll be pretty damn entertaining ;3 hehe. :grin: until next time!

look at the bright side, I gave you a nice long chapter. Savor it, enjoy it, and hope the return of my muse will mean lots of writing for me in the next few days before school starts and takes away my freedom :cries:


	8. Hiding on the Roof

**Reviewer Replies**:

Smitten: muh haha, my EVIL plan of LAUGHTER is working:D haha glad I could amuse you so.

Vivi: Yesh, we find out :3 It's kinda cute, too. ...thanks again for gettin shdfi back :3 feisty lil thang, en't she? xD

faol: Yusss, drunken Arisa is veeery fun. lol Drunken people are fun in general, I've found xD You should see some of my role-plays. Whenever I play DnD with Claire, there's always someone getting drunk :3 lol it was bound to happen in this story too xD

J-Chan: good god I'm getting lazy with names. Ah well. lol it is an amusing image, isn't it, Hana and Akito having a stare-down? xD Hana's awesome. She's my Hero :3 lol. Unfortunately, though, you have to continue reading to find out what route I take x3

MissRule: Of course, Hana's not even going mano-a-mano -- she's got Megumi, too! hahaha, Megumi's my hero as well. :glomps: ...and, that's not to say Tohru won't serve her purpose. But...:squeaks: I've already gone and said too much. :runs away:

inuishima: next chapter...is here! xD hope you don't mind I left off the numbers. I just have this...fetish with shortening names as of late. :3 hehe

Fire Dragon: LOL! OMG that cracked me up so much xD haha, so, you feel sorry for Akito, eh? well, I can see your point...and I suppose SOMEONE has to feel sorry for the guy...haha, ah well. I just...really enjoyed this review xD haha, thanks for that. :snikker:

**Chapter Summary**: Hana's visit with Akito. And wait...MORE stuff happens! Kyo and Uo...on the roof? woah...

**Author Comments**: are going to be reserved for the end of the chapter :squeaks again: there's...so much I want to say..that...I can't... :explodes: lol I think I'm suffering just as much as you guys because I can't TALK about stuff without giving it away! xD aghhhh :explodes again:

...well, I can tell you that there's another card game played this chapter, called Egyptian Horse Race. It's much simpler than Spades or Hearts, but the explanation is once again at the end of the chapter :3

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

The next day Hana did just as she said and showed up at noon o'clock, sharp. Shigure had wasted no time, either. He greeted them promptly at the door with a smile on his face, although he received nothing of the sort from the siblings.

Tohru and Yuki bid them farewell, both of them very relieved that, after talking a while longer last night, Shigure and Hatori had decided that the relationships could still remain secret.

Kyo, of course, remained on the roof, pretending he hadn't seen the psychic and her brother walking towards the house, or the trio leaving. He just hoped that Shigure's plan to keep their visit strictly about Hana and Megumi would work. Arisa wasn't ready to face Akito yet, and he knew that Tohru and Yuki _never_ were quite ready to face that monster. It was such a fucking annoyance, that that man had to be the bane of everyone's happiness. If he would just keel over and die already, he was pretty sure no one would mourn the loss.

-/-/-

"You think Hanajima will be able to stick with the plan?" Tohru blinked - a bit in surprise - as she and Yuki sat down at the dining room table, ready to pass the time with a game of Egyptian Horse Race.

"Of course." Tohru smiled and nodded confidantly. Yuki still looked worried though.

"Akito can be good at prying things out of people..." he cast his eyes to the side, while Tohru watched him and shuffled the cards. "Things you don't think he knows to get out of you..."

"No," Tohru shook her head sweetly, "Not Hana." with a grin she gave Yuki his pile of cards. "She's way too smart. I-I mean, I guess she's not the most academic person, but she has that other sense, you know? Besides, Shigure told us he'd talk to her on the way over, she'll know what to expect. We don't have anything to worry about. Hana knows what to do!"

Tohru was so confidant in Hanajima, Yuki couldn't help but trust her. With a warm smile he nodded and picked up his cards.

"I hope you're right."

-/-/-

Shigure arrived home that evening, after dropping off the Hanajima siblings at their house.

"I'm hoome," he called pleasantly, and received a cheerful "welcome back!" from Tohru as she rushed from the dining room to greet him. Yuki followed quietly behind, looking a bit more concerned than Tohru. A little to Shigure's surprise, and blush-ridden Arisa followed after the both of them.

"What did Akito say?" Yuki asked anxiously.

"Well...I'm not sure." Shigure admitted sheepishly. "Akito shooed Hatori and I out of the room. The good news is it doesn't look like he got too violent. Saki and Megumi came out without a scratch...although Saki's cheek looked a little red...But for Akito, that's really quite impressive. He and the Hanajimas must've been having quite the conversation." he rubbed at the back of his neck, signalling to Yuki that he was holding something back. But of course neither of the girls caught up on it, and Yuki hardly had a chance to inquire.

"Does Hana get to keep her memory?" Tohru urged the conversation on, now looking a little worried as well.

"Yes, that she does." Shigure noded, smiling cheerfully. "Megumi, too. Seems Akito was generous today." Arisa was clearly confused, but somehow didn't have the gall to but in and ask questions. Shigure wasn't about to ask what she was doing there, either, and instead bid the teens a cheerful adue and retreated to his study. With that, the trio moved back into the dining room, to pick up where they had left off.

-/-/-

"What was that all about?" Arisa asked, a little shyly. Yuki shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but it's not anything we can talk about right now. Let's focus on you and Kyo."

"Well...there's really not much more to be said. He just won't come down." Arisa sighed and lowered her head, looking a little ashamed, "I must've really pissed him off yesterday."

"Nooo, that's not it at all!" Tohru shook her head frantically. Yuki nodded, affirming Tohru's reassurance.

"Yeah, he usually goes up there when he's upset about something, but that doesn't mean he's mad."

"Maybe you should go try talking to him up there." Tohru smiled, "That's what I usually do when he won't come down. I just go to him to talk instead of trying to get him to come to me. I'm sure he'll be willing to talk up there."

"Alright." Arisa nodded. "But hey, just for reference, was there anything shitty I did while I was drunk? I mean, I don't really remember anything...but I want to be able to apologize if I did anything that-"

"No," Yuki and Tohru both gently shook their heads. "You were actually kind of funny." Tohru giggled, but then quickly shook her head again. "Ohh, but-that's not to say that we want you getting drunk again! I mean, you're funny all the time! And I really like-!"

"Chill," Arisa laughed at Tohru's reaction, and shook her head. "I don't plan on doing that again anytime soon. I'm still feeling the hangover."

"..Well, why did you do it yesterday?" Yuki asked warmly, a little concerned. Arisa sighed and brushed back her bangs.

"I was so nervous." she said. "Kyo and I sort of had a scoff the other morning...when he asked me to dinner...I dunno, I thought it was my last chance to make up with him or something. I was kinda freakin out. Thought I needed something to calm my nerves." she laughed half-heartedly, finding some irony in that. "I hope it wasn't my last chance though. If it was, I sure screwed it up, huh?"

"No." Tohru smiled sweetly. "You can make Kyo blush even redder than I can." she giggled, "That means he really likes you. I don't think he'd break up with you just because you were nervous. I think he'll understand." Arisa nodded, finding comfort in Tohru's words, and stood up.

"Alright, I'm going."

"Good luck." Yuki smiled after her. Arisa winked back over her shoulder, returning to her usual confidant self, and tossed her friends a thumbs-up before turning out the door.

-/-/-

"Kyonnnn-Chan!" Arisa cheerfully popped her head above the roof, spotting Kyo laying down and looking up at the sky. He jumped, startled by Arisa's sudden presense, and blushed profusely as he sat up.

"Hi..." he murmered. Arisa pouted that he was so sullen, but continued on up to the roof, and plopped herself down next to Kyo.

"I'm sorry I messed up last night."

"No, it wasn't you." Kyo shook his head angrily. "That damned Shigure told everyone but me that we were having company. If I'd've known I'd've just invited you over another night."

"Well, that's alright." Arisa grinned. "If I was drunk I'm sure I was having a good time." Kyo chuckled airily, finding her point.

"True." he smiled. "You did seem to be enjoying yourself." the two smiled off into the sky, glad that neither of them seemed to be holding any grudges from the other day.

"So..you're not mad?" Arisa leaned her head against his shoulder.

"No," Kyo shook his head again, surprisingly unbothered by the blonde head of hair next to his. "But I'd really rather you not drink any more. It's not good for you...but, if you won't do it for yourself...do it for me, alright?"

"...Okay." Arisa noded.

"Besides," Kyo mused, "You're scaaaaary when you're drunk."

"Alright then, now I _really_ won't. Wouldn't want to scare my Kyon-Chan." with a grin she pulled her head up to give him a peck on the cheek, and then laid her head back down on his shoulder.

Kyo blushed, but didn't complain. He was pretty happy now, glad that he was finally comfortable treating Arisa like a girlfriend, and glad that Arisa felt the same way. The only problem now would be getting past Akito and Kagura, neither of which would take too kindly to their being together.

"Say, Kyo?"

"M?"

"Hana went to visit someone named Akito today..." Kyo winced. Did they really have to talk about this right now?

"The same Akito you told me about?"

"Yeah." Kyo grumbled.

"...Why did _she_ have to go see him?" Kyo was quiet for a moment, before shrugging Arisa off his shoulder and laying back on the roof.

"I don't know." he fibbed. He couldn't tell her...he didn't see how Akito would possibly let Arisa keep her memory. And without her memory...would all the feelings of the past few days be lost? Just when he was really warming up to the Yankee...he wouldn't be able to take that.

"...Is it really that bad?" Arisa said, laying back next to Kyo. "Bad enough that you have to lie about it to me?" there was a long silence. If he could, Kyo would tell her everything. Maybe not his other form - he was far from being ready to deal with that - but everything else, he could spill out to her in a heartbeat. If only it wasn't for the sadistic bitch that ran the family.

"It's Akito." Kyo said dully. "What Hanajima went to see him about...I can't tell you. It-it's not because I don't want to, it's just that if I did..well, we'd both be in deep shit."

Arisa sighed and rolled onto her side, resting her head againt Kyo's heaving chest, and putting her hand on his stomach. Kyo looked down to her, a little overwhelmed by the closeness, but he couldn't bring himself to push her off. His relationship with Uotani was so important to him now, he didn't want to risk it by telling her to back off again. As long as she didn't-

_-/POOF/-_

"God DAMNIT WOMAN!"

"Ehh?" Arisa blinked at the cat that she suddenly and inexplicably held in her arms.

"Did you REALLY have to go and ruin the moment?" Kyo hissed, "GOD DAMNIT!"

"What the FUCK!" the blond cried out and sat up, holding the cat out in front of her. "WHY ARE YOU A CAT!"

Kyo struggled out of her grip and ran to the edge of the roof, looking down to see if anyone had come outside. He was relieved to see the house was as still as usual, which he hoped meant no one had heard her.

"Keep it down, Yankee!" Kyo growled as he pounced back over to Arisa. Arisa pouted, clearly freaking out.

"But-...you-...Kyon-Chan?"

"What?" Kyo asked angrily.

"Why the fuck are you a cat!"

"Because you hugged me, damnit!"

"Wha-?"

"Just, shut up and listen!" Kyo sighed and sat down. "THIS is what I couldn't tell you about."

"...That you're a cat?"

"I SAID JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

"...sorry..."

"I'm fuckin' cursed, alright Uotani? Every time I'm hugged by a girl, I turn into fucking THIS!"

"You...but..WHY?"

"THE HELL IF I KNOW!" there was a moment of silence as Arisa gazed off towards the sky, not sure what to think, and Kyo huffed as he looked down to his feet. He couldn't take much silence.

"SAY something, damnit! If...if this means...we're through, then just...just SAY it."

"No!" Arisa snapped her head back to Kyo, now blushing a little. She looked a little paniced as well. "No." she shook her head sharply.

"No," she repeated again. Kyo was starting to get annoyed with the repeated assersion, but luckily Uotani continued this time, "this is..weird, Kyo.."

"Nah, really!" Arisa shook her head again, more calmly this time.

"But it definitely doesn't mean we're over. Don't even say that. This'll just...take some getting used to, is all." there was another silence, although this one was slightly more comfortable. Arisa finally managed a pleasant smile, and then playfully scooped the cat into her arms.

"Besides," she giggled, "Once you get used to it it's kinda cute."

"Oh, don't even!" Kyo was in no mood to be called cute. Arisa just grinned and fell on her back, coddling the cat to her breast. Kyo couldn't help but blush, as much as an orange cat could. This may be natural for Arisa to hold and animal up against that, but from his point of view this was _terribly_ awkward.

Luckily Arisa pulled him away and held him out in front of her, to smile sweetly at the kitty, but of course the poof just _had_ to sound and bring about another _terrribly _awkward moment.

The two just stared at each other, blushing pretty deeply, as they were both very aware of the position they'd managed to get themselves in. Kyo was kneeling over Arisa on his hands and knees, completely in the neud.

Luckily the moment wore off quickly as Arisa burst out laughing, in the same instant that Kyo shot away from her to yank his clothes back on. Arisa sat up, now red from both blush and hysterical laughter. Kyo, on the other hand, was a cherry just thanks to embarassment and fluster. He did not find this amusing.

"Can't you warn me before you change back like that?" Arisa sputtered through cries of laughter. Kyo grumbled as he knealt on the other side of the roof, too flustered and embarassed to venture back over to Arisa just yet.

"No," he muttered, "It's never the same amount of time, so I never know when it's gonna happen. It just always manages to happen at the _worst_ possible time." Arisa just laughed harder. Kyo was surprised that that was even _possible_.

"Apparently!" she squealed. By now she was hunched over her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. In Arisa's mind, that was just too funny. Kyo getting all flustered over it wasn't helping, either. Giving up, Kyo sat down, figuring Arisa wasn't going to stop her laughing any time soon.

The two lingered on the roof for quite a while, Arisa laghing her ass off, and Kyo blushing profusely into the sunset. It wasn't until they heard a cheerful "Kyoooo" from Tohru on the ground that Arisa finally started getting a hold of herself.

"Oh, hi, Uo, you're up there too?" She couldn't see the roof from where she was standing, but she assumed that it was Uo's laughter she was hearing.

"Yeah."

"So I guess this means you two made up?"

"Yeah," Uo laughed again and wiped her eyes, but seemed to finally have herself under control now.

"Hey, Tohru," Arisa's blonde hair slipped over her face as the Yankee leaned over the side of the roof so that she could see her brown-headed friend.

"Did you know about Ky-" Kyo could only guess what she was about to say and he quickly dove over to her, covering her mouth in a panic.

"Eh?" Tohru blinked, "Know what?"

"Nothing, Tohru, we'll be in in just a minute." Kyo muttered, trying to mask the pain of Uo biting into his palm in an attempt to get his hand off.

"O-okay! Uo, you can come eat with us, too." With another smile Tohru left them, and Kyo finally relinquished Arisa from his grasp, taking the moment to finally yelp in pain and shake his hand out, trying to quell the sting Arisa had put into it.

"Good god, woman, did you have to bite the hand!"

"What the fuck was that for! I bit your hand cause you were freaking shutting me up with it! What gives!"

"No one can know that you know, stupid!"

"Why? Not even Tohru?"

"No, not even Tohru! If it leaves the two of us Shigure is sure to get wind of it somehow, and if Shigure knows Akito will find out _soon_ after that."

"I still don't get what's the big deal with this guy. You guys act like he's God or something. What can he do besides rough me up a little? I've been roughed up in my time, Kyo, I don't think it'll be that big of a deal."

"You don't know what Akito's like, Arisa."

"Well I'm not afraid to find out." Arisa pulled back her sleeve, acting like she was getting ready to punch something. "Bring him on, I could so take him!" All Kyo could do was hang his head and sigh.

"...I know you'd put up a fight. But that's what I'm afraid of. Akito, he...he's sick, really. He likes- he _needs_ to be in control. If he's confronted with someone who can best him in a fight...he'll never suffer to keep you around."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Arisa snapped. She was tired of Kyo holding things back.

"I mean... if he had it his way, you'd probably lose your memory of this. All of this." Arisa was quieted down at that, fear and shock sudddenly taking over.

"He...he could do that?"

"Yeah." Kyo muttered. "Hatori's the one that actually does it, but...he _can't_ disobey Akito if he orders him to. None of us has any choice once Akito makes up his mind. So we _can't_ give him something to make his mind up about. He _can't_ _know_." with a sigh Kyo lifted his head to look at Arisa again.

"This stays between you and me, Yankee, got it?" Arisa sighed and started for the ladder.

"Yeah, orangetop, I got it." she murmured, "Let's go eat."

-/-/-

"Yuki," Shigure was mildly more serious than usual, which did a good job of catching the boy's attention. Yuki turned to face him in the hall on his way to the dining room.

"Yes?"

"Come see me for a sec?" The author flashed a smile and motioned for his study. Yuki shrugged.

"Alright," at that he quickly poked his head into the dining room, where Tohru was just finishing setting up before Kyo and Uo came inside.

"Tohru, Shigure wants to show me something. We'll be in in just a sec, okay?"

"Okay." Tohru smiled and nodded, then went back to setting the table.

Shigure smiled again and slipped into his study, Yuki following slowly, and a little cauciously, behind. The silver-haired boy leaned back against the door as he closed it, while Shigure took a seat on the other side of his desk.

"Yuki...Akito told me he'd like to talk to you. He bothered to specify _only_ you, at that." Yuki flushed. Here he thought he'd gotten out of going to see Akito.

"You... didn't tell him, did you?" Shigure pouted.

"Yuki, I'm hurt." Yuki rolled his eyes at this. When it came down to Akito, he didn't like Shigure cracking jokes. Shigure caught the notion and decided to give in and be a little more serious about it.

"No, I didn't tell him." Shigure shook his head. "But he does have a way of figuring these things out, you know. I'm wondering if he didn't manage to pry it out of Hanajima. Although, she seems like a much more loyal friend than that." he paused for a moment before lazily pushing himself to his feet.

"Well, perhaps it's not about that. Since he did specify that he wanted to see only you...he might have asked for Tohru as well if it was about your relationship with her. You know Akito, there are plenty of other things he-"

"Shigure, don't." Yuki shook his head, "You're not exactly helping." the dog frowned, a little ashamed that he'd almost brought that up. Yuki's distraught demeanor was starting to cramp on his smile, too.

"I'm sorry, Yuki." he said sullenly. "But it's Akito. My hands are tied-there's not much I can do about it."

"...I know." With a sigh Yuki ducked out of the study. Shigure put his usual smile back on, so as to not worry Tohru, and followed Yuki out.

-/-/-

Dinner was almost _unbearable_. Yuki was clearly distracted, - as was Kyo, - Arisa for whatever reason looked uncomfortable, although she at least tried to hide it, and Shigure seemed to be the only person Tohru could have a decent conversation with, but even _he_ was off.

She couldn't ask them at the table, since she knew neither of the boys would spill the beans in front of the other, but as soon as dinner was over and Tohru got the table cleared, she eagerly followed Yuki to where he was hiding out at his secret base.

"Is something bothering you, Yuki?" Tohru asked shyly as she emerged from the trees, to find the boy sitting on the rock by the garden, looking rather down.

He did his best to brighten up when he heard Tohru's voice and saw her there, lingering shyly by the tree.

"No." he smiled meekly, shaking his head as he looked back to the garden. "I'm alright." Frowning, Torhu walked over and knealt down by the rock, taking Yuki's hand in hers.

"Yuki," she said, a little bit pouty, "You can tell me." The boy let out a sigh, losing his fake smile. He watched the garden for a moment, building up the courage to tell Tohru. He knew she wouldn't let him go alone, even if Akito had only asked for him.

"Akito asked to see me during his visit with Hanajima today." he said sullenly. Tohru drew in a gasp.

"Does he-?"

"I don't know." Yuki shook his head. "Shigure said he didn't tell him...he might have gotten it out of Hanajima..."

"No." Tohru shook her head, refusing to believe that. Hana was the most loyal person she knew, she'd never slip up like that.

"...Or it might be something else." Tohru bit down on her lip.

"L-like what?"

"I don't know. But Shigure said he specifically asked for _only_ me." he paused, and sighed again, rather deeply this time. "That worries me."

Tohru pushed herself forward and kissed Yuki on the cheek, needing to comfort him somehow. This was a moment that really called for a hug. If only she could give him one.

"I'll still go with you. In the very least, I'm sure Hatori would let me wait by the door, so I'd be right there when you and Akito are through."

Blushing mildly from the kiss, Yuki smiled - sincerely this time, but still a little sadly - and reached up to brush his hand against Tohru's cheek.

"I would like that..." he nodded sweetly, "Very much."

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Okay, card game first, in case you're reading the rules before reading the chapter (perfectly fine)

Egyptian Horse Race! woot.

The goal of the game is to capture all 52 cards.

Players start out with a pile of cards of equal size. I'm not entirely sure, but I think if cards are left over they're just given to the person who takes the first round.

Whoever goes first (I believe the person to the right of the dealer is the traditional first, but it doesn't really matter. For future reference, let's call this person person A) flips over the card on top of their hand, and sets it in the middle of the table. If it's a face card or an ace, then the next person must flip over a face card or an ace in the allotted amount of flips. (let's call this person person B)

If it was an ace, they get four tries to flip over a face card.

If it was a king, three tries.

Queen, two tries.

And Jack, one.

If person B fails to flip over a face card, then person A gets all the cards that are currently on the table - including any spare cards from dealing.

If, however, person B does flip over a face card, then the cycle continues. Now if person C fails to turn over a face card, then person B gets the pile. If person B does flip over a face card, then the cycle continued on to person D, or goes back to person A, depending on the number of people. Are you starting to see the pattern?

Now, let's add in slapping :3 If you run out of cards, never fear! You get to sit at the table and slap at cards, hoping to capture more cards for yourself.

You can't just slap whenver you want to, though. You can only slap when two of the same card are flipped over in a row. (ie, someone flips over a king, and then the next person flips over a king) and, if you're successfully the first slapper, you get the pile :3 you can do this at any point in the game, too, even when you already have cards. It's just that when you don't have cards it's the only way to get them.

Of course, where it was just Yuki and Tohru playing, the game would be over as soon as one of them ran out of cards since there were only two playing.

I think that's about it. Like I said, fairly simple game.

Now. To adress..issues...that I'm sure you all had in the chapter xD if you haven't read the chapter yet and just scrolled down for thr rules, GO READ THE CHAPTER FIRST..

...putting in a space for padding xD...

alright. Here' where I get on my knees and apologize from the deepest place withing my heart for not giving you Akito's scene with the Hanajima's. It just...revealed too much information too soon, and it's best that we're left with at least a little bit of mystery for later :3 Never fear, though, I promice you **will** get to read about their visit. Whether it'll be from Saki, Megu or Akito, I haven't decided yet. Probably a mix of the three, but I PROMICE you I WILL give you the scene. lol because it's already written out, and I know you guys'll have fun with it once you get to read it :3 but this just wasn't quite the place in the story for the conversation they had. I'd explain further, but...well, that would reveal the information! xD

Also thanks for being pacient. I know I'm falling back a couple days each week now...school's started, you must understand. My computer time has been severely cut back, and soon brainpower will have to be allotted more to school than to the story. I'll do my best to keep it up, but I can't garentee that it'll be on a roughly-weekly schedual like it's been. Just keep with me, and the story will be finished when it's ready to be finished xD

:glomps reviewers: I :heart: you all:glomps again:


	9. Enter the Angel

**Reviewer Replies:**

**PriestessLennoue:** another reader:squee: I'm so happy! xD :joins you in glomping Kyo:

**charriXD: **woot, someone commented on the title :D now that just made my day. lol I'm not even sure how I came up with it xD Just figured it should have something to do with a cat and a fish, all things considered, so...yes indeed, Cat's Don't Eat Fishes just sorta popped out on the keyboard xD

**faol-sidhe: **Yes. Trust me, I wanted to let you read about Hana and Megu and Akito as much as you wanted to read about them! xD But, it just wouldn't fit. Information overload, really o.O Sometime soon, I promice :pats:

yes indeed. I think Uo actually quite enjoys him being a cat :D lol I know I sure as hell would enjoy it if I could turn my boyfriend into an animal xD a kitty, no less :3 hehe

Yeah, I've heard it called lots of different things. But :shrug: my cousin calls it Egyptian Horse Race, so...yeah xD I do too.

By the way, can you guys tell I like card games yet? xD hehe

**chapter summary: **Tohru and Yuki make their visit to Akito, while Arisa and Kyo have a talk with the Hanajima siblings, both fairly interesting and eventful affairs.

**Author comments**: gomen, gomen, gomen :bows: you must understand, I'm running on a schedule with four honors classes and the first two weeks of school are hectic while I'm trying to settle into the way things work o.O I wouldn't expect this to fall back into it's weekly update schedule anytime soon - seeing as I still haven't managed to build up a buffer - but I will do my best to get you guys updates in a timeframe that isn't too painfully long. Bear with me, and hopfully school will get a little less hectic once I'm into the swing of things. :kills honors classes:

...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Tohruuuuu!" the brunette was greeted in the morning by a cheerful and energetic Momiji, latching firmly onto her arm as she entered the school building.

"I heard, I heard! Ha'ri told me! Hana-san and Megu-san get to keep their memories! Isn't it wonderful!"

"ah...huh..." Tohru was still a little dazed from the heart attack that the bundle of joy had given her, when Yuki walked into the scene, regretting having left Tohru alone when he saw who had attacked her.

"Shouldn't we not be talking about this at school?" he said quietly, gently nudging the rabbit off of Tohru to give her some space to breathe.

"Cheh," Haru made his presence known by shrugging off Yuki's comment. "It's not like anyone around here knows what we're talking about."

"...that's sort of the point..."

"Yo." Arisa demanded attention as she and Kyo walked on the scene. Tohru smiled at the sight of them holding hands, but rather than a pouty, red-faced cat, Arisa gently tugged along a glowing pink Kyo. It was a wonderful thing to see him finally breaking through his shell, and she was happy that Arisa was the one to help him do that, even if she selfishly wished she could have had more of a part in it herself.

"Hi Uo, Kyo." Tohru cheered with a bright grin.

"Hullo!" Momiji cheered as well, while Yuki and Haru gave a somewhat halfhearted - or, perhaps, lazy - greeting, consisting of a dull "hi" and a lazily raised hand in place of a wave.

Arisa raised an eyebrow at the boys, sensing neither of them were quite at the energy levels they usually were, but shrugged it off quickly and turned back to face Tohru.

"So, you seen Hana today?" Tohru's smile dulled a little as she thought about it a moment, before shaking her head wide-eyed, unsure what to make of this revelation.

"N-no, I haven't. She-she usually waits for us here by the door or in the classroom, right?"

"Yeah, Orangetop and I checked the classroom on our way over here. Teach said Hana hasn't so much as poked her head in the door." Tohru was starting to get worried. Hana didn't skip school..and she was always to school before they were...she must be sick! Had her visit with Akito gotten to her? Was Megumi all right? What if something terrible happened-!

"Miss Honda..." Yuki knelt down next to the girl as she suddenly sank to her knees, looking rather pale.

"Hey, Tohru-" Arisa followed after - as did Kyo - and the blonde released her kitten's hand to free her own, for brushing back Tohru's hair and feeling her forehead.

"You all right? You got kinda pale there..."

"N-no, I'm fine-!" Tohru shook her head decidedly, waving her hands to say that they didn't have to worry. When Arisa backed off a little she let out a sigh, calming down.

"It-it's just that Hana...she-"

"Hey," Arisa shook her head sternly, "Don't you worry about Hanajima. I'm sure she just got a late start this morning. At worst, she caught a bug and'll be back tomorrow. It is starting to get a little chilly out, you know. We can go visit her after school and make sure she's all right, 'kay?"

"Oh, but-" Tohru looked sad, and glanced back to Yuki, who let out a sigh, apparently answering her question. "I-I mean, I'd love to, but I'm sorta busy this afternoon. You go without me and tell her to feel better, 'kay?"

"Alright." Sighing, Arisa pushed herself to her feet, checking her watch on the way up.

"We'd better start heading to class. Spent enough time mingling at the doors."

"Well, in that case-" Haru shrugged before being cut off by the energetic bunny that hopped in front of him.

"We'd better head to class too!" Momiji playfully leapt down the hall after Haru, waving happily back to the older quartet, while the cow marched lethargically down the hall in front of him, paying no attention to the rabbit's antics.

-/-/-

"Yuki,"

"Eh?" the silver-haired boy blinked as he emerged from the bathroom stall to wash his hands, finding Haru leaned up against the wall looking at him, rather seriously.

"I met up with Hanajima before Shigure took her home yesterday."

"Oh?" All Yuki could do was tilt his head and blink, while his hands instinctively started washing themselves in the sink.

"Yeah. She told me Akito had beckoned for you..." At that Yuki let out a sigh, turning his eyes from Haru to look down at the sink.

"Yes, that's right." Haru was quiet for a moment, the only sound echoing throughout the bathroom being the quiet water faucet pouring over Yuki's hands.

"That's what you're doing thisafternoon, right? And Tohru's coming with you?"

"Yes." Yuki wasn't quite sure where Haru was going with this. Haru had always been able to read him well, so he wasn't entirely surprised Haru had figured it out, but that didn't mean he knew what he was going to do with the information.

To tell the truth, Haru didn't really know where he was going with this, either. The cow reached up and rubbed a little nervously at the back of his neck, casting his eyes away from Yuki for a moment.

"You'll be all right?" Yuki took a moment to respond, but nodded.

"Yes, I'll be all right." Haru brought his eyes back to him, skeptically, and a little worriedly.

"I'll be in my room all thisafternoon and this evening ...I've got a shitload of homework to do... you come stop by if that bastard does anything. I don't like the thought of you-"

"Haru," Yuki walked up next to him, needing to get at the paper towel dispenser that hung on the wall next to him, but also to give the cow a comforting - albeit worried - smile. "I'll be fine. Miss Honda will be there with me, even if she can't be in the room by my side. But...I promise I'll stop by to say hello, okay?"

"You better..." Haru murmured, with a hint of playful sarcasm, but still rather seriously. "I'll see you, then," he smiled, waved his hand over his shoulder, and left.

Yuki lingered behind, taking far longer to dry his hands than he needed. He felt just a little warm inside, knowing that Haru was worried, and it was also good to know that there was another back he could fall on, just incase Tohru alone wasn't enough.

He was proud of Hatsuharu in a way, too. He was jealous, but he wasn't bitter. Not in his white form, anyway. Yuki smiled somewhat at the thought, that the young calf was growing up.

-/-/-

Hana didn't show all day. Every time the bell rang, Tohru looked eagerly to the classroom door, hoping that the psychic would appear, assuring Tohru that she hadn't fallen ill. But alas, she never came, and that had Tohru very concerned.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Arisa gave her brunette friend a pat on the back as they met up at the front door.

"I'm sure Hana's just fine. You and Yuki go have fun on your date, all right? I'll check up on her for you." Tohru blushed that Arisa thought it was a date that had her busy this afternoon. She _wished_ she could look at a visit to Akito like that.

Arisa had seemed to have been expecting Tohru to be surprised at her comment. She shot the brunette a playful smile and a wink.

"Hatsuharu told me."

"O-oh," Tohru blinked, a little surprised. Had Yuki told Haru that that's what it was? "I see..."

"So I guess Hanajima never showed?" Kyo could only guess that's what this little pep rally was about. Arisa looked up to him and nodded - a little sullenly, although she still had a smile on.

"Yeah...I'm going to her house on the way home to check up on her. Hey...wanna come with?" Kyo blushed a little, pulling his hand up to scratch at the back of his head before shrugging his shoulders, seeing no decent excuse to get out of it.

"Sure, I guess." hopefully it would turn out that they went to Hana's house, discovered she was fine, and left within the minute. He doubted it, but he could always hope.

"Well, you two go on ahead." Tohru smiled sweetly to them. "I have to wait here for Yuki to finish up some of his student council things, and then Hatori's coming over to pick us up."

"Hatori?" Kyo suddenly looked suspicious. Arisa had told him that Yuki and Tohru were going on a date, but...why would Hatori be picking them up for that?

"O-oh! Well, yes...see, that is-" Tohru looked quite scattered, like she always did when she was nervous or caught off guard. She didn't want to lie to Kyo, but...she didn't want him to worry, either. She knew he wouldn't like the thought of her accompanying Yuki to go see Akito.

"Hatori was kind enough to offer us a ride to the restaurant we were headed to, since it's so far away from school." Tohru was relieved when a smiling Yuki poked his head into the conversation, glad to come up with a fib. He knew just as well as Tohru how upset Kyo - and possibly Arisa - could get, should they tell them where they were _really_ going.

-/-/-

Arisa and Kyo left, and Hatori arrived soon after, silent while Tohru and Yuki shyly clamored into the back seat.

"Oh?" Tohru blinked as she got settled, and her eyes fixed on the empty passenger seat. Somehow she'd expected Shigure to be there.

"Shigure-san isn't coming with us?"

"No." Hatori quietly shook his head. Tohru was, ...well, _surprised_ at how much she was surprised. She'd never really thought about it before, but she'd never pictured that they'd be going to see Akito without Shigure tagging along. He _always_ tagged along.

"..oh."

The car was silent the rest of the trip; Yuki was nervous, Hatori was just being himself, and Tohru wasn't brave enough to start conversation.

When they arrived Hatori cordially opened the door for Tohru, while Yuki silently let himself out. The teens walked hand-in-hand to the house and down the hall, Hatori leading the way. The dragon gracefully walked up to Akito's door and gently tapped his knuckles against it, drawing out a muffled and snappy "Enter." from inside.

"You'll have to stay out here, Honda-kun," Hatori whispered to her. Tohru nodded and sat down on a bench next to the door. She and Yuki shared a last, almost desperate glance, before Hatori led the boy into the room.

-/-/-

"Leave us, Hatori." Akito instantly shooed the man out, leaving Yuki standing awkwardly in the middle of this vacant abode, while the sadistic tramp before him glared from his throne.

"That Hanajima brat told me everything." those words were enough to make Yuki visibly wince. Shigure had instilled some hope in him that it wasn't about this, but unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

The black-haired young man rose stoically, something between a glower and a grin across his leering face as he strode towards the boy, tensing every nerve in Yuki's body.

"_Everything_, my dear Yuki." Yuki swallowed harshly as Akito grazed a finger under his chin, his mouth drawing awkwardly close to his cheek and neck and ear.

"About that bitch feline and his tramp, too." the glower melted into an eerie, leerful grin as Akito pulled away, looking Yuki dead in the eye. The boy let out a sudden breath and looked to the side, widening Akito's grin even more.

"She's here, isn't she? That woman, waiting to comfort you...turn you against me as soon as I set you loose..." Yuki said nothing, and Akito simply shook his head.

"You know, neither of you can be happy," he said as he made his way back towards his throne. "That cat, especially, but his well-being doesn't matter to me - not like _yours_ does, my dear Yuki." Yuki couldn't help narrowing his eyes as he bravely watched after Akito, while the young man lowered himself into his chair. Still, he found no words to say. He never could, not in this room.

"My dear, sweet Yuki, you must understand -- we're _cursed_. I would have thought that would have sunk in by now. We're destined to be alone - _all_ of us. Relationships like yours can only end in tragedy for both parties. I wouldn't want to see Honda-san get hurt like that. Would you?"

If Yuki wasn't so terrified of the man's reaction, he'd laugh. Did Akito think he was actually buying this? Akito _hated_ that woman - there was no denying it. It was just even more sickening that the sadist wouldn't come out and admit it, but rather insisted on trying to play with their minds instead. He always painted himself to be the good guy, and that more than anything made Yuki sick.

"_Would you_?" Akito repeated with emphasis, making it clear that he wanted Yuki to answer.

"N-no..." Yuki looked down shamefully, his face burning up with hatred, embarrassment, and fear. He was glad for the darkness in the room to shroud at least that much from Akito's eyes.

"Of course not." Akito grinned, considering himself victorious in this little banter, especially after what he had to say next.

"And that's why I'm making this decision. For that woman's sake, for the monster's sake, and for you, Yuki. I'm doing this for you..."

-/-/-

The boy emerged silently from Akito's quarters, his eyes still shadowed by his bangs, and his tearstained cheeks now visible with the light of the hallway.

"Hatori!" came the screech from inside, inviting the older man silently into the room, and giving him no time to inquire into Yuki's tears.

"Yuki-!" Tohru panicked when her prince fell to his knees, his shoulders shaking violently while his arms grasped desperately at his stomach. Tohru stuttered out nonsense as she sank down after him, setting her hands hesitantly on his shoulders. The curse was crueler now than it had ever been. Why couldn't she hug him? Why couldn't she comfort her prince?

"Y-Yuki! What's wrong! What did he say?" she was crying now, too, worried beyond belief and lost as to what to do. She blinked when Yuki suddenly clunked his head against her chest, getting dangerously close to hugging territory.

"Hold me." he said softly, his shoulders calming just a little bit, now that he was in Tohru's grasp.

"B-but Yuki, you'll-"

"Hold. Me."

All Tohru could do was what Yuki asked of her. He was so desperate and vulnerable in this moment, she had to do whatever she could to help him. Even if she didn't understand why, she had to do this as he begged of her.

With a calm sigh she wrapped her arms around him, resting her head ontop of his until it faded into a puff of silvery-purple smoke, leaving the sniffling Tohru grasping onto a small rat, his clothes shuffled onto the floor.

The girl let out a squeal and jumped up against the wall as Hatori seemed to appear out of no where, standing over Tohru as she held the rat to her chest. The man sighed shallowly and bent over to pick up Yuki's clothes before turning and walking down the hall.

"Follow me." he said stoically, and Tohru did as she was told. She was far too flustered at this moment to even think of doing otherwise. She and Hatori were the only sounds in the hallway, their pitter-patter steps echoing coldly off the walls. There was a strange sort of anxiousness in Tohru. Hatori was colder than usual, and Yuki was obviously upset. How could she not be anxious?

"Sit." Tohru had been led into someone's bedroom - Hatori's, she could only guess - and the man motioned for her to sit down on a cot by the wall. She did so, still gripping onto Yuki dearly. The rat in the meantime was silent, taking in the warmth that Tohru showered, afraid that he'd never be able to feel it again.

Hatori knelt down in front of her, still not explaining what it was that he was doing. He gently reached out his hand and placed it on her forehead. Tohru blinked inward, trying to see it. She was still amiss as to what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Tohru." Through all the confusion, it finally hit. The riceball's eyes suddenly tore wide open and she drew in a sharp gasp, Hatori's gentle words somehow enlightening the situation.

"N-no..." her eyes softened and glazed over, full of a sudden, heavy despair. "He-...he can't...do this..."

Hatori closed his eyes silently, needing to concentrate on the procedure he had to go through. Tohru's breathing was shallow and full of vibrato, ready to burst into sobs the moment she lost her control. All Yuki could do was nuzzle himself into her shirt, as though hiding from Hatori's sight would make everything but Tohru fade away.

"Ha-Hatori..." There she lost it. She could already feel her eyes growing heavy, and her mind growing dim. Why was there nothing she could do to stop this? Was there nothing Hatori or Yuki could do, either? Why did they all have to bow down to this fate? It wasn't fair - it...it wasn't right!

"I don't want to...forget..." her eyes closed, sending tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I...love them both..." her voice grew quiet as she started to waver, "So much..." and finally she sluffed silently onto the bed, unable to fight against the dragon's spell any longer. Yuki crawled his way out of Tohru's limp arms, and sat down beside her, intent on watching his riceball until Akito himself made him get up.

Hatori let out a sigh. He, too, lingered by the bed, taking his time pulling his hand away, and watching Tohru silently. It was almost a shame that Yuki was so taken up in watching Tohru sleep - this could be the only time he'd had a chance to see Hatori shed a tear in his presence.

The man didn't linger long, though. He pushed himself to his feet, quickly drying off his eyes. No one would know he ever cried for Tohru Honda, and that's the way it had to be.

"I'll be in with Akito," he said, with a steady voice that gave not a hint of tears, "He wanted me to check in with him once this was done. Come and knock on the door when you're ready to take her home."

Without waiting for reply from the rat, the dragon whisked himself out of the room, leaving Yuki sitting silently beside Tohru's bed, reveling in the despair of never confiding in his onigiri again. One thing Akito knew all too well was how to be cruel. And this was among the cruelest of things that his god could do to him, was to make his riceball forget.

The only uplifter, was that at least Tohru could still be happy. Because of that, he could still have hope.

-/-/-

"That bastard..."

"...?" Megumi blinked up to his sister as she broke the silence with a murmur. They'd been sitting in Hana's room, dead silent while they both pondered over their encounter with Akito the other day.

Hana looked to her brother, sensing that he'd heard her muttered comment, but didn't get a chance to reply before their mother called up to them, drawing both the siblings' attention towards the door.

"Saki, Arisa and her friend are here to see you." On cue, the yankee appeared at the door, clutching onto Kyo's hand as he showed up after her.

"Hey," she said nonchalantly, before moving into the room and sluffing down in front of Hana and Megu. Kyo followed silently behind.

"So, what's the story? Tohru's been worried sick, you know."

"Yes," Hana sighed, "I'm sure she has."

"Where is Tohru?" Megumi asked innocently.

"Oh," Arisa grinned, "She's on a date with the Prince. I told them to go on ahead, since Kyon-Chan and I were going to check in with you anyway."

Although Arisa's answer kept her and Megumi occupied, Kyo's eyes had time to wander, and he noticed that Hana didn't seem concerned with where Tohru was, although she did seem to be glowering at something he couldn't quite see. And somehow, it wasn't until then, that he'd noticed something _else_ about the girl...

She was dressed in yellow.

An off-white tanktop, rather, and yellow pajama pants. With clouds on them. And cute little chibi-angels.

He blinked wide-eyed at her, for lack of any other way to respond. He wondered for a moment if Arisa had seen Hana dressed in yellow before, or if it was just that she hadn't noticed. Hana wore it so...naturally, somehow, it hadn't been as obvious as he thought Hana in yellow would be. Still, now that he _had_ noticed, he couldn't quite get used to the sight. He didn't think he saw a spec of black on her. Now that was scary.

"I see." Megumi broke Kyo's gaze as he calmly answered, nodding to Arisa. "So they're doing well, then?"

"Yeah. They're adorable together, actually. Damn, it's a good thing I pulled a move on Kyo, else they'd likely have sat blushing at eachother until they split at graduation." Arisa gleefully huggled onto Kyo's arm, sending the boy into a startled blush, but he didn't bother shaking her off.

"And you and Kyo," Hana finally decided to join the conversation, "How are you doing?" Kyo just continued blushing, while Arisa playfully - and carefully, curse considered - pulled him into a noogie, enticing a frustrated yelp from the cat.

"Oh, we're doing just fine. En't we, orangetop?"

"Yeah, yeah-" Kyo grunted as he flailed his way out of Arisa's noogie, his blush now five times more brilliant. Hana smiled lightly, cheered up a little as she was brought some good news.

"Well, that's good to hear."

"And how about you and Megu?" Arisa countered, starting to get a little more serious. "You guys don't look sick to me, why'd you stay home?"

"...Kyo," Hana said as she tilted her head towards him, "Would Arisa have to go to see Akito if I told her about my visit with him?"

"Hm? Oh, no. She already knows, actually."

"Know what?" Arisa blinked, earning a facefault from her orangetop.

"The curse, stupid!"

"Oh, right!" The blonde tossed him a playful grin, "So I guess this means Hana knows you're a feline, too?" Kyo stuck his tongue out at her, sensing she was trying to imply something derogatory by it. She just stuck her tongue out, too, and grinned.

"I see..." Hana brought their attention back to her, as she prepared to explain her reasons for staying home that day. "I'm glad; I wouldn't want her to have to see that _monster_ unless absolutely necessary."

Kyo winced at the name. He knew she was using it to refer to Akito, but it still struck a little too close to home. Luckily no one noticed. Although, Megumi's eyes did happen to flash to him in that moment, but if he had caught it, the boy didn't say anything, and for that, Kyo was glad.

"In any case," Hana continued, "I staid home to think, in all honesty."

"We both did," Megumi added.

"Yes; our conversation with that boy was quite...thought-provoking..."

"Yeah, Shigure _said_ you guys must've been having **some** conversation." Kyo murmured.

The air in the room started to get a little more serious and mellow as the conversation moved to Akito. Even Arisa lost her grin, sensing this was something not to be giggled about.

"I suppose." Hana gave a shrug, and Kyo shrugged back.

"Well, you came out bruise-free...that's _usually_ a good sign. Last time... Tohru..." there was a thick silence. Arisa recalled the conversation she'd had with Kyo earlier that week, and saw no reason to delve into it further.

Saki's reason for brushing over the topic was unclear though; Arisa didn't normally know her to ignore a mention of Tohru like that, but she did.

"He is a sick man." she said dryly, and rather bitterly. Her eyes briefly flickered over to Megumi, who looked away. Kyo could swear he saw the boy's pale skin pinken a little, and his brow drew together in pity for him. Afterall, Kyo could only assume what the brief series of glances was about, but he'd been around Yuki enough to venture a fairly educated guess.

It wasn't that Yuki had ever spoken about it to anyone. No one spoke of what Akito did to them. But every Juunishi knew. Plenty of them had undergone something similar themselves...in that sense, Kyo was one of the lucky ones. But the fact that Akito had steered clear of him because he was a _monster_... well, it added a rather large bitter to the sweet. But how disgusted Yuki would be, if he knew Kyo was even jealous of him for _that_.

"He said to me..." Megumi said softly, drawing Kyo out of his train of thought. "that he would like for me to come back. Again, next week."

"He would like to see me, as well." Hana nodded back to Kyo and Arisa, "But he told us to come at separate times." with a sigh she looked back at her brother, who had scooted a little closer to her. "I'm not sure I can let him though. I'm loathe to let that _monster_ alone in the same room with Megumi."

There was that word again. Kyo winced, but this time didn't even draw Megumi's attention. The conversation went on like his reaction didn't even matter. Arisa had finally decided to give a comment.

"..What did you guys talk about, when you were there?" Hana looked at Arisa with a glare, but not at her. Arisa knew her friend was glaring at the conversation, rather, and was unaffected by the slightly malicious gaze.

"The curse...mostly. I do believe Megumi and I are, in fact, a part of it."

"Curses _are_ my specialty..." the boy shrugged. All Kyo could do was blink. The curse was supposed to be a family thing...why would outsiders be involved?

Then again, Tohru was an outsider, but was family to him now. Perhaps it's somehow a similar situation with the Hanajima children. He couldn't imagine the specifics, but he supposed he could keep an open mind about it.

Arisa was just plain confused, though.

"Well, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, a little impatiently. "I mean I guess I've never really seen a guy hug you but...you don't turn into an animal, too, do you?" Actually, she was a little frightened, as well. If Hana turned into a rooster or something, she'd freak.

"No." the girl shook her head gently, calming Arisa at that.

"I think we're angels." the room blinked towards Megumi, who shrugged slightly at his own, admittedly naive-sounding theory.

"The curse is very much symbolic..." he went on, sensing that - now that he had their attention - he was required to explain. "Akito...is god, like from the Chinese folk tale. And then there are all the animals. Now look at the Western story, _why_ god made the animals in the first place-"

"He was lonely..." Hana thought she might see where Megumi was going with this, and even Kyo watched the boy with a spark of interest. But poor Arisa was at a lack of reaction, and just sat there, letting this whole explanation go in one ear and out the other. This whole curse deal was just a bit over her head.

"Yes...god wanted companions. But when the animals weren't enough, he made humans..."

"...Tohru." Kyo was in shock of himself. What Megumi was saying, it...it was making sense. Perfectly.

"And when humans needed guidance, he made angels."

"Us." Hana concluded the story quite nicely.

"Hey," Arisa pouted a little as she brought herself into the conversation, _very_ confused. "So, I don't get it. Akito's god? Who're the other animals?" Saki tilted her head a bit in confusion at Kyo.

"I thought you said she knew-"

"I guess I didn't really get a chance to explain it all to her." Kyo rubbed nervously at the back of his head, realizing he'd forgotten to mention that there were twelve others. He was pretty sure he forgot to mention the Zodiac, too. He was pretty sure he forgot to mention a lot. Smooth.

"Okay, so tell me now." Arisa pulled back her bangs and looked to him sternly. It was starting to get rather frustrating, how often she'd find out that Kyo hadn't told her something.

"Sorry, Arisa. It was just that- you know, I was stressed when it happened, I wasn't thinking through things and I just-"

"So. Tell. Me. Now." Kyo sighed, nodding.

"I'm not the only one that's cursed, Uotani."

"Apparently." damnit, she was in _that_ mood again.

"Yuki and Shigure, they are, too. And so are ten others in the Souma family, not counting A-Akito."

"They _all_ turn into cats?"

"No-no, that's not it. You know the story about the Chinese Zodiac? God invites-"

"Yeah, yeah, cheesy bedtime story, I've heard it. My dad wasn't _that_ neglectful. What about it?"

"Well, I dunno." Kyo's rubbing of the back of his neck grew more fierce. Arisa was all too good at making him anxious. "I guess you could say we're kind of living it."

"How so?"

"Well, I'm-I'm like the cat, from the story. Sort of. Yuki's the rat, and Shigure's the dog...there are others. Haru and Momiji...they're cursed too. Cow and the rabbit...I dunno, the Souma family's been cursed for a long time now."

"Wow." Uo blinked for a moment, shrugging. "Your whole family is comprised of freaks. I guess this explains some things though. Tch, I've always wondered why you and the Prince are always so 'damn rat' 'stupid cat' all the time. Heh, that's kinda funny, actually, now that I get it." a grin suddenly slipped back on her face, and Kyo let his nervous hand drop to his lap.

"Yeah, I guess." he smiled sheepishly, finding it hard not to in the presence of Arisa's grin.

Hana and Megumi had been watching them silently, doing a good job of making the other two teens feel like they weren't even present. As Kyo's explanation came to a close, however, Arisa suddenly grew interested in the Hanajimas again.

"So, Hana," she said, eagerly looking over to her friend. "What's my part in this whole thing? I guess...if both you guys are angels...then I'm... what, a human along with Tohru?" Megumi shrugged, while Hana shook her head.

"I can't say."

"We haven't entirely worked out the theory, you understand." Megumi added.

"We really need to think more on it before it's final..." Arisa picked up Hana's subliminal hint.

"Well, is there anything else you need to tell us before we leave you two alone? Anything you want me to relay to Tohru?"

"No," Hana shook her head, standing while Arisa pulled both Kyo and herself to her feet.

"All right then, we'll leave you two to your thinking. Oh, and Tohru says to get well soon." Arisa tossed a playful wink and grin back to Hana, who nodded as her blonde-headed friend slipped out the door.

"Kyo." Hana timed her small but demanding call of the boy's name so that he'd just left the door, meaning that Arisa was out of hearing range by now, but Kyo was just close enough to venture back into the room, blinking puzzledly.

"What?"

"You're no more of a monster than I am. Understand this. Arisa's stubborn, but tolerant. One of these days, that bracelet is coming off. You have to realize that."

Kyo's eyes narrowed as he looked down to the beads around his wrist. Of course Akito would've told Hanajima about that. The last thing he needed was Akito trying to poison Tohru's friends against him, but it was already working.

"The sooner the better, if you ask me. She's not going to get any more accepting than she is now." Kyo gave her a huff and stomped out the door. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to something like that. he didn't _want_ to respond to something like that.

"...I don't understand it, Megumi." Hana sighed and shook her head as she sank back down by the table, several moments after she heard her mother bidding ado to her friends downstairs. "Why did we end up mixed into all of this?"

Megumi quietly made his way closer to his sister, standing so that he could wrap his arms around her shoulders, and lean his head affectionately into his sister's silky green hair.

"Because," he said quietly, "Akito-sama needs us."

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Ohhh, funness. :dies: Look at the bright side. After the long wait, you got a long chapter :3 now, then... :runs off to work on next chapter:


	10. BitterSweet Grief

Reviewer Replies:

**vivi: **fraid you're just gonna have to wait on that one :3 :pat:

**inuishima**:grin: oh, it's difficult not to comment on that xD but alas, I cannot give it away:squeaks: Can I say that you mentioned someone that Hana might consider? xD by the by, though, if Akito's not the one, her femeninity wouldn't be what stopped me.

Entirely irrelevant, but alas, I'm a politically-minded person, who feels the need to sieze this opportunity as a chance to get on my soap box and say that I like homosexual characters as much as the next gal :3 woot. :holds up YukixHaru flag:

**cho:** :hyperventalates: I'm updating, I'm updating! x.X lol as fast as I can, I promice!

**Phox:** for some reason I love your sn, by the way xD it just...struck me as unique :3 and oh. my. goodness. I had honestly never thought of bringing the devil into this o.O lol I might have to do something with that later, actually xD

Chapter summary:sniffle: what can I say? people are sad! D:

Author comments: I'm so sorry to do this to you guys, but I'm taking a month's hiatus xP School is, unfortunately, not slowing down much. Given a month off, I think I can build up a buffer that can tide me over at least for a while. So, unfortunately, there will be no updates for October, but just know that I'll be working up a buffer, which'll hopefully make for more expediant updates, which'll also hopefully make for less agony in the long run, for you. Once again, my humblest apologies, but in the long run I'll be better off writing when I get a buffer built up - it takes that much stress off my shoulders.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Rough but gentle arms slipped around Yuki, and he found himself blushing and suddenly aware of his nudity. He'd transformed back some time ago, but with Hatori gone he found no motivation to be in a hurry to get his clothes back on. Besides, any time he'd take to dress would pry his eyes away from Tohru. It felt like the minute he stopped looking at her she'd dissappear...he couldn't let his riceball dissappear.

"Yuki," the soft voice was Haru's. The ox held the rat tightly, ignoring Yuki's lack of clothing. As much as he wanted to, this was far too serious an occasion to make a dirty comment. "Hatori came to get me. It's a shame, isn't it?"

Yuki was silent, and merely let Haru clutch him against his chest, while his elbows folded warm and firmly over his shoulders and around his arms. He didn't know Haru could be so tender, but he found himself not caring. Haru's embrace was a wonderful thing to have - it was a thing he could never really experience with Tohru - but nothing could take away the pain he felt right now; it could only help to warm and ease it, ever so slightly.

He had half a mind to beg Hatori to rid his memory of Tohru as well, but he knew the Dragon wouldn't do it. Outsiders could go on with their lives, but the Juunishi were cursed with every last moment of theirs. Erasing Tohru wouldn't do a thing to the pain this caused.

was a very long moment - a period of time, rather; it was much longer than a moment - in which Haru held Yuki tight, trying desperately to comfort the boy, while Yuki was silent in this ox's arms, nothing wavering his tear-strewn gaze at his sleeping little Tohru.

After that moment there was another long period of time, in which Haru was less comfortable, although he still tried to comfort. He looked at Tohru over Yuki's shoulder with sadness in his eyes, to be sure, but he saw this ending as more bitter-sweet than Yuki did. He hesitated saying something for a long time, but it simply had to come out. Haru wasn't one to keep secrets from the one he loved, especially nasty thoughts like he had now.

"Yuki, am I a horrible person?" No answer, not even a quieter silence, or a shifted gaze. Yuki almost didn't even notice Haru's speech, and Haru noted he hadn't exactly given Yuki a means by which to answer.

"...That...I'm a little bit...glad?" at this the silence did grow thicker. Haru found it an odd response, but Yuki gently pushed himself more firmly against Haru's chest, prompting the boy to hold him tighter. Since Yuki didn't protest as much as Haru had anticipated, the cow bravely went on, bearing a little seed of hope that Yuki was open about a different way of viewing the situation.

"She was an outsider," he said carefully, sure to leave out the bitterness that _some_ Soumas might include in the statement, "She never really deserved to get involved in our curse. This way, she can go on to live a normal life. Meet a normal boy, have normal kids. It wasn't likely to work out for long betwen you two, anyway."

Haru's own words made himself sad - he had grown fond of Tohru over the year or so he'd known her - but he was much more concerned with how much his words were hurting Yuki. It was a hard truth to make the boy face, but he seemed to be taking it pretty well.

Haru looked down to the boy that was still reveling in the cow's embrace, staring blankly at Miss Honda laying on Hatori's cot. He showed no signs of bursting into tears - anymore than he already had - or of lashing out to Haru for saying such things. So, bravely, the boy pressed on further.

"She'll be happy, Yuki. You have to let her go. Besides," he tenatively held Yuki tighter. By now the boy was practically in Haru's lap - he would be, had the cow not spread his legs to be able to bring him in closer. With Yuki tugged to close to him, he had the opportunity to rest his chin on the boy's silvery hair, and did so, admittedly enjoying the intimacy Yuki was letting him share. But with the dramatic pause over, Haru lifted his chin and looked back down to Yuki, bringing a hand up to gently stroke aside the boy's silvery bangs as they glinted in the dim light of the room.

"You still have people that love you."

"Like Akito." Yuki's words were a sudden, cold, hard stab to Haru's chest. Airly, the boy pulled back, relinquishing Yuki from his grasp.

"W-what?"

"You heard me," Yuki wasn't cold or bitter in his words. The words weren't malicious - or, weren't meant to be - but, rather, indifferent. He remained staring at Tohru, not caring if Haru held him or not, and he murmured off facts which he believed to be true. It didn't matter that it was hurting Haru, because it was just the way it was.

"You love me in the same sense that Akito does."

"Yuki, don't-"

"You don't even care what I lose in Tohru. You're just glad that I'm free. You think you can manipulate me. You think I'll readily use you for a rebound. I won't, Hatsuharu. I'm sorry."

Haru breathed heavily as he backed slowly away. He couldn't argue against Yuki's words. That may very well be what he thought he could do, even if he hadn't realized his own intent. But how could Yuki even _compare _him to Akito? Didn't Yuki know that Akito used that room for Haru, as well?

Haru sighed heavily as he pushed himself to his feet, and averted his eyes at the door. "Put your clothes back on," the ox murmured quietly, and left.

-/-/-

"Ahhhhhh! That was so much FUN!" Arisa cheered as she stretched her arms over her head, commenting about their time in the arcade they'd just emerged from. Kyo had seemed intent on treating Arisa to something after they left Hana's; Arisa couldn't really complain.

"What now?" she asked cheerfully. Kyo shrugged and looked the other way.

"I'll...take you out to eat." Arisa slowed her walk and frowned a bit, glancing at her watch. Kyo stopped a few paces ahead and looked back once he realized she'd stopped walking.

"It's only barely 4:30, Kyon-Chan. I'm..not really hungry." Kyo huffed and rubbed fircely at the back of his head.

"Alright, you wanna see if we can catch a movie or something?"

"...Kyo?"

"WHAT?" Arisa was quieted for a moment, while Kyo huffed, trying to get himself calmed down. Hana's mention of his beads had gotten him in a terrible mood, and he hadn't managed to slip out of it yet. Really, Arisa had been bound to pick up on it at some point.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he spat. Arisa frowned and crossed her arms.

"Don't give me that crap! You've been pissed since we left Hana's house -- what gives?"

"_Nothing_," Kyo repeated decisively, and somehow, that was that. Perhaps Arisa was in such a good mood she didn't feel much like arguing, else she'd've delved into his mood further. But, instead, she decided to endulge him and let him pay for a movie.  
And popcorn.  
And coke.  
And chocolate-cookiedoughbites.  
And supper at the fancy restaurant accross the street from the cinema.  
And after that, shopping for groceries she needed at home, which he then generously carried all the way to her house - absolutely _refusing_ to let Arisa carry any - althoug hshe did manage to snag one bag.  
And then he helped her to put the groceries away, and was even overly polite to her dad, who, now sober, was eager to converse.

To be honest, Kyo could be quite the noble boyfriend when he wanted to, but Arisa just wished that it wasn't all amidst a bad mood. He just wanted to distract her and keep her from asking about it, and she'd let him.

"Well, I say boy - Kyo - it was nice meeting you."

"Good to meet you, too, sir," Kyo accepted the man's extended hand and shook it firmly, earning an approving smile from the old man. Arisa grinned at the side, noting that her dad would likely insist that Arisa check into this boy if she hadn't already.

"Anything else you want to do tonight, Uotani?"

"Naw, you pooped me out, orangetop."

"Alright," Kyo finally broke a smile, seeing that Arisa was clearly pleased with the way the evening had gone. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Can I walk you home?"

"No," Kyo shook his head a little more decisively than Arisa had anticipated, but she shrugged it off as part of his bad mood.

"Alright, then," she shrugged, bidding him ado from her doorstep. "See you tomorrow." the two shared an affectionate wave accross her lawn, and Kyo lethargically dissappeared down the street, leaving the fish to worry and ponder on her own.

-/-/-

Somehow Haru's visit had inspired Yuki out of his misery a little bit. He finally got off his lathargic ass and dressed himself, and with one last passing glance at Tohru, he silently left, wiping off what tears were left, and meandering bravely down the hall to tell Hatori he was ready.

"Oh, Yuki!" Yuki was taken by surprise when a certain brown-haired Juunishi greeted him outside Akito's door. She jumped to her feet and gave him a smile, a notion that was clearly ignorant of the current situation.

"Long time no see!" the boar threw her arms around Yuki, but was taken aback by the cold lack of reciprocation on Yuki's part. He even bothered after a moment to push her away, and then sank silently onto the bench outside Akito's door.

"Is something the matter, Yuki?" Confused, Kagura slank onto the bench next to him, but was sure to give him his space. Usually when Yuki was like this he'd been to see Akito - hence, why he didn't want to be touched. Since he was here, acting like this, she could only guess that's what the trouble was. When he gave no answer, she had no choice but to assume it was.

"Well, I'm waiting for Hatori to get out here so I can go in to see him - Akito, that is," the girl paused for a moment and glanced up, pondering over that fact. "Hatori came to get me a little bit ago, saying Akito wanted to talk to me. He and Akito have been having quite the conversation since then, though."

Yuki looked down to the fists that were balled up on his knees, and Kagura gave him another mildly confused look. After a moment, though, she returned to a calm gaze towards the wall.

"You don't have to talk about it to me." she said contently, knowing she wasn't exactly the first person Yuki would go to for comfort. Deciding to lighten the mood, she smiled again and turned her head back to him.

"How's Kyo doing? I haven't been able to check up on either of you since school started. He's making good grades I hope?"

Yuki nodded absentmindedly; Kagura let out a meek sigh. Yuki was refusing to let her distract him, and that frustrated her a bit. She drew in a breath, though, to try again, but the door to Akito's room slid open.

"Akito will see you now, Kagura," Hatori reported stoically. With one glance to Yuki he started down the hall towards his room, and the boy followed.

Kagura paused in the doorway of Akito's room, watching after the two men. She hated being worried about Yuki and not being able to do anything about it. Oh well. He'd open up to Tohru, she was sure to cheer him up.

"Kagura," the snap from Akito brought Kagura into the room, and she left her worries about Yuki outside.

"Don't mind them. I wanted to talk to you about Kyo."

-/-/-

Hatori stood quietly by while Yuki gently and carefully took Tohru up in his arms. The duo was silent and solemn as they walked down the hall. Oddly enough, they found Kagura skipping quite happily towards them.

"Are you going back to Gure-san's house?"

"No."

"Oh," Kagura looked surprized, and a little dissappointed. All at once she'd been stopped long enough to catch the bundled-up rice ball in Yuki's arms, and her eyes filled with confusion and panic.

"Is that-!" But Yuki walked calmly by, ignoring Kagura, and Hatori followed suit.

"Check up on Kyo tomorrow," Yuki said softly, "Not tonight. He'll need his space after tonight."

"Now, wait a minute!" Kagura held her hand out and ran for the two young men, frustrated that they hadn't offered to explain what was going on.

"What's the matter with Tohru? Is she alright? Is she sick? She didn't have to go in to see Akito, did she? Did he do anything to her? TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG, DAMNIT!"

She reached forward to grab hold of Yuki's sleeve, but the boy surprised her by managing to balance Tohru safely over his shoulder and free a hand to grab hers. This forced her to look him in the eyes for a moment, and her burgeoning violent side was quelled by Yuki's harsh coldness. He glared directly at her, and Kagura was scared for a moment. Never had Yuki resembled Akito so much, but this cold look of his was all too close to the leer of the sadistic god.

Yuki captured a whimper out of her as he twisted her arm back and shoved her to the floor, taking just a moment to glare at the pathetic-looking boar before silently turning and walking off.

"Don't touch me," he murmured, "Ask again about Tohru tomorrow. Not tonight."

Kagura watched the rat leave with teary eyes. It wasn't like Yuki to be so cold to her. Not that he was ever very warm, but she would expect him to treat Kyo like that - not anyone else. Certainly not her. They always got on tolerably well. Why was Yuki so mad at her now?

Hatori was kind enough to offer Kagura a hand up, and she was glad that at least the dragon seemed to be himself. It could be because he was always cold, so this frigid mood wasn't anything new for him, but he didn't seem mad at her like Yuki did.

"Hatori-" tearful, Kagura latched onto the dragon's sleeve, bringing his attention back to her and keeping him from leaving. "What's wrong with Tohru?" Hatori was silent for a moment, deciding whether now was the best time to break it to her. Somehow he decided against it, and softly pulled his sleeve from Kagura's grasp, leaving the exasperated boar alone in the hall, sniffing over her own worry.

-/-/-

"What do you- huh? What the...?" Of course it was Tohru's obnoxious cousin to answer the door. Yuki watched emotionlessly as she pulled back from the door, inviting him in, and turned to call for her grandfather.

"Yo! Grandpa! That guy Tohru was shacking up with is here!" Yuki was surprised; she sounded worried. So the girl actually was capable of feeling something for Tohru. If only she showed it when Tohru was there to see it. Yuki felt aweful that he was going to have to leave Tohru in the care of these idiots.

"Why hello, there-" the small old man shuffled out of the kitchen with a warm smile on his face, ignoring how Tohru's cousin had referred to the visitor. He grew worried, though, when he saw a peacefully sleeping Tohru in Yuki's arms.

"Oh, my, Tohru..." the man shuffled quickly over to Yuki and brushed his hand lovingly across Tohru's forehead to check if she had a fever. She felt fine, and he shifted his gaze up to Yuki's.

"What's the matter?"

"She'll be fine," Yuki said matter-of-factly, "But her memory's shot. She won't remember staying at my house. Please, don't bring up the subject with her?" by now Tohru's aunt and uncle had joined her cousin behind her grandfather, and they all looked at Yuki with a mix of suspicion, curiosity, bewilderment, and worry.

"Well, if you think that will be best for her." Her grandfather was confused, but willing to go along with it. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid it's a little too complicated to explain. Please, which way to Tohru's room? She does still have one I hope?"

"Oh, yes, of course, it's upstairs," he motioned, and then lead the way. Though she didn't make a big deal of it, Tohru's cousin lightly rolled her eyes. Yuki paid no attention, or didn't notice, and followed the man up the stairs, while the other three house guests stalked curiously behind.

He laid the girl tenderly on her bed, and stood over her, gently brushing his hand across her forehead, and looking adoringly upon her sleeping face. Disregarding the presense of Tohru's relatives, the prince let tears slip down his cheeks, but he kept himself from vocalising them. Quietly, he bent over the girl and brushed aside her bangs to sweetly kiss her on the forehead. He smiled bitterly as he pulled away, and after just a moment of holding her soft, peacful hand and brushing his tumb gently across her smooth rosey cheek, he finally pried himself away and turned to look at the girl's stunned family.

"I hope there's still room for her here. Due to...family problems, we aren't able to house her anymore. I'm very sorry to dump her on you like this, but-"

"No, no, that's alright," Tohru's grandfather insisted, shaking his head gently to Yuki. "We are her family afterall. Thank you for taking care of Tohru up until now. The way I understand it, she was quite happy in your care."

A lump suddenly caught in Yuki's throat. The boy grimaced, glad that no one had bothered to turn on the light, and shoved past the relatives to the door.

"I-I have to go. Thank you, for taking her back in." he gulped, choking back sobs that desperately wanted to express themselves. "Take good care of her."

The four stood speechless just outside Tohru's room, while they watched a shaken Yuki make his way silently downstairs, and heard the door close behind him.

-/-/-

"Yuki," the dragon stopped the boy from getting out of the car right away when they pulled up in front of Shigure's house. The rat had undone his seatbelt and started to open the door, but hearing Hatori murmur his name, he pulled the door shut again and blinked back to the dragon.

"Understand, I know what you're going through. If you ever need- ...I'll be there, alright?"

Yuki's stomach fluttered, and all at once he felt warm. Somehow Hatori offering to guide Yuki through this was one of the most gracious things any Souma family member had done for him. Haru would of course be there for him as well, but Haru couldn't offer advice like Hatori could. Yuki would keep the dragon in mind.

"Thank you, Hatori." the rat managed a smile, though bitter, and quietly ducked out of the car. He lingered on the front porch for a while, while he watched the dragon drive away, and then took a breath, and entered the house. He was sure Kyo wouldn't be pleasant company once he heard the news.

"Ah, Yuki." Shigure cheerfully greeted the teen once he walked in the door. The dog quickly noticed Tohru wasn't by Yuki's side, and he thought he had enough insight to assume the worst. But it didn't put a damper on his mood - hardly a thing ever did.

"I'll tell Kyo for you, if you like. He's bound to be rather testy."

"No," Yuki shook his head, "That stupid cat deserves to hear it from me. He'd much rather hear it from me than you, I can assure you."

Shigure pouted as Yuki pushed past him. Although, he knew Yuki was right; receiving such bad news from a tease like Shigure was - beyond the canine's comprehension - one of the lowest blows someone like Kyo could take.

"You won't find him that way, Yuki," the rat paused after his first stairstep, and glanced back to the dog, who grinned and pointed upwards. "I'd be careful if I were you, he came back in a rather dissagreeable mood." Yuki murmured nonsense under his breath and pushed back past Shigure again, to venture out towards the perils that awaited him on the roof.

-/-/-

"What do you want?" Kyo snapped and sat up when he saw Yuki's head appear above the ladder. Yuki was silent as he continued climbing to the roof, and plopped himself down awkwardly close to Kyo. The cat wrenched and scooted further away, although as to not make a big deal out of it, he didn't go very far.

"Can you handle bad news tonight?" Kyo hmped and laid back on his hands, tossing the prince a shrug.

"Sure. Nothing could possibly beat my rendezvous with Hanajima."

"This will."

Kyo's attention was caught by the rat's timidness. He sat himself up again, and watched Yuki as he gazed towards the setting sun, his knees held close to his chest.

"Go ahead, tell me." Kyo murmured off to the side. "The hell if you're going to shelter me from anything."

"Akito had Tohru's memories erased."

It was blunt, frank, to the point, and took Kyo by surprise. There was a moment of silence - a long, surprisingly comfortable moment of silence - while Kyo gazed absently at the rat, and then diverted his gaze to the sky as well.

"...You and Tohru didn't go on a date, huh?"

"No. Akito had beckoned for me during his chat with the Hanajimas. Of course Tohru insisted on coming along."

"Would it have changed anything, if she hadn't?"

"No," Yuki shook his head, slouching a bit to set his chin on his knees. "Akito had already made the decision before I even got there. Miss Honda wasn't even in the room with me. It must've been something Hanajima said to him - he already knew." Kyo drew his brow together, and shook his head absently.

"No way," he protested, "The Yankee and I went to see Hanajima this afternoon...she said they talked mostly about the curse, I don't think she mentioned Tohru at all."

"But she did. She was probably just wanting to keep Uotani docile. Akito said that Hanajima told him everything. How else would he have found out?"

"Hatori?"

"Not a chance. He wouldn't have."

"What makes you so sure?" the boys had been doing a surprisingly good job of remaining calm around eachother, but somehow now, with the mention of Hatori, friction started building up.

"You and I both know that Hatori is Akito's little blabber-pet. Of course he told him!"

"You just keep your mouth shut about things you don't understand, stupid cat." Kyp had pushed himself to his feet, and now Yuki joined him.

"Oh yeah? And what is it that I don't understand, ya damned rat! Since when are you so protective of that god damned seahorse?"

"Dragon."

"He's a fucking SEAHORSE! Why the big deal!"

"Of course it's a big deal. That's worse than me calling you a kitten."

"Yet you do it all the time, fucking rat. What's it matter? Why the fuck are you so defensive all of a sudden?"

"What's it matter _to you_? Just leave Hatori out of this."

"Oh, I get it." Kyo snapped, "You're trying to identify with him, right? Because of Kana, right? Fuck that, this is different than Kana, and he's not going to be on your side just because you have one little thing in common. Plenty of other Soumas have loved ones with lost memories and haven't gone running to Hatori for comfort. What about Momiji's mom?"

Yuki just gave the cat a raised eyebrow and a glare. Did he not realize how attatched the blonde was to Hatori? Kyo flushed red and spat to the side.

"Okay, BAD EXAMPLE! So what? You know, you're just going to get yourself hurt again. You think Hatori's ready to be the brother Ayame never was?"

"Shut up. This has NOTHING to do with Ayame."

"Well, he's not. He's on Akito's side - he always has been! I don't know why the fuck you're so stupid and putting yourself out on a limb like that."

"I don't know why _you_ care! Since when do I matter to you?"

Kyo was quiet for a moment, silenced by Yuki's observation. Why _was_ Kyo so concerned with this? He lowered his head and glared to the side, his bangs covering his eyes while his fists clenched tightly by his jeans.

"I'm just...tired. I'm tired of seeing people getting hurt. Even if it is you."

Yuki was silent for a moment, before scoffing and turning back towards the ladder. _Tired of seeing people getting hurt_. How melodramatically cliche of him.

"Stupid cat." he murmured, and ventured down the ladder, leaving a stressed, angry, confused, and most of all shocked Kyo alone on the roof. It still hadn't sunk in what Yuki's announcement really meant.

Grunting, the feline sluffed himself down on the roof again, and looked after the setting sun, now little more than a dim purple glow on the horizon. It was silent for a moment, while he heard Yuki slam the door shut down below.

Suddenly Kyo wished Yuki hadn't left. He was alone. Tohru...Tohru as gone. The only other person who had ever accepted his true form...no longer could remember it to accept it.

"Tohru..." the cold, hard truth of Yuki's announcement finally started to sink in. A lump settled firmly in Kyo's throat and he sat himself up again, grasping desperately for something to hold or something to punch. His grip just found his shoulders, to which his hands clung tightly, hugging himself in a shiver, tears staining his eyes and cheeks a tragic pink.

Kyo wasn't sure how long he sat alone on the roof, hugging his knees to his chest, while he sobbed quietly into his sleeves. All he did know was that he needed someone. It would be pathetic to run to get Yuki, and likely wouldn't make him feel any better. Shigure would just tease. Who could he go to? He'd go insane if he just sat there, weeping like the pathetic little boy he still was. He hated that he hadn't grown up yet.

"Uotani-" he lifted his head, too many thoughts landing upon him all at once. He could go to Uotani. That's what girlfriends were for, right? But...what if, what if Hatori had told Akito about his relationship with Uotani, as well? What then?

Panic and despiration struck him, and he leapt from the roof, landing a little less gracefully than he normally would have. His foot slipped on the grass and he rolled a few paces, but that didn't stop him from pushing himself quickly to his feet and running down the road, desparate to see Arisa again.

-/-/-

"So, how'd it go?" Yuki had nothing to say to Shigure as he started up the stairs, but the boy paused and stepped back down, glancing down the hall to Shigure's study, where the author stuck his head out again, sensing Yuki still had something to say.

"Kagura's likely to come around tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"M," Yuki nodded solemnly, "Do you think you could keep her away? Tell her to come back again later. She needs to hear the news from Kyo, but-"

"But when he's gotten over the news himself," Shigure nodded, understanding precisely what Yuki was saying. He couldn't help smiling, really. Yuki was looking out for Kyo. And though he'd heard yelling, Shigure didn't think he'd heard any scuffle. The boys seemed to be growing up, even if little by little. It was just ashame this maturity was coming through such depressing circumstances, though. Shigure would miss Tohru and her wonderful housekeeping skills, too.

Yuki nodded, glad he and Shigure were on the same page, and then continued up the stairs, to retire to his room.

He paused just outside his door, and glanced to where Tohru's room was, letting out a sigh. Of course he'd forgotten to bring Tohru's things along. But he couldn't bare packing up her room. Not now. He'd leave early and drop her things off before school tomorrow.

With another heavy sigh he slipped into his room. The rat stood heavily by the door as he slowly pushed it shut. Weary eyes led him over to his bed, where he plopped down, and sat in silence for a long moment. Slowly the boy's head sank to his hands, while his shoulders tensed with sobs. His little riceball was gone.

-/-/-

"Kyo-?" Arisa answered the door to find the pink-eyed cat leaning wearily against the door frame. He wanted so much to sluff against her and take her into a hug, but he couldn't.

"Kyo, what-what's the matter?" Kyo said nothing as he pushed gently past her and peered into the empty livingroom area.

"Is your dad here?"

"He's already asleep," Arisa nodded. "Why? Kyo, tell me what's wrong-" Arisa gently grabbed his shoulders, bringing herself as close to Kyo as she could without triggering the curse. Kyo gasped in despair and sluffed himself down onto the couch, shrugging Arisa gently off of him. She followed suit and sat down next to him, not taking her eyes from his, though he seemed reluctant to meet her gaze.

"Tohru..." Kyo said softly, shaking his head. "Akito, he-" Kyo paused to steady his breathing. Now that he was here, he wasn't so sure he liked Uotani seeing him like this. But it was a bit late now.

He felt Arisa's hand gently graze across his back, trying to help Kyo steady his shoulders. To tell the truth, Arisa was a little afraid. Somehow, she didn't ever imagine Kyo being like this. He was always so cute when he was upset at school, but this was too real. Something had really gotten to him - and the fact that it apparently had to do with Tohru and Akito wasn't calming her down any, either.

"Shhh," She said calmingly, "Come on orangetop, tell me. What happened?"

"Yuki and Tohru - they didn't go on a date," Kyo sighed, "They went to go see Akito. Someone had told him about Yuki and Tohru, and he-he..."

"...Is Tohru alright?"

"Yes," Kyo sniffed harshly in and rubbed at his eyes, giving the Yankee a nod, which relieved her a little. "Yes," he repeated, nodding again and calming himself a little. "She'll be fine. She'll be perfectly fine." A bitter smile crossed his face when he realized something.

Up uintil now, he'd only been thinking about himself - his own selfishness in wanting Tohru to remember him. It was his problem that she didn't remember that night in the woods anymore, not hers. She'd be truly happy now.

And when Kyo _really_ thought about it - she'd still accept him. It wasn't as though her forgetting meant it never happened. He'd still remember, it was possible for an outsider to accept him. Maybe...maybe Uotani would, too.

"What about you?" Arisa asked timidly, "Will you be alright?" She still wasn't even sure what had happened. But from what Kyo had told her about Akito so far, she guessed he must've beaten up on her a bit. Inside she was boiling with rage at the thought, but she wanted to make sure Kyo would be okay before she lost it.

"Yes," Kyo tossed her a surprisingly bright smile and a nod. "I will. I'll be alright." the bitter smile slipped back onto his face, though, as he cast his gaze downward.

"What happened, Arisa... Akito decided he wanted Tohru's memories erased. She hardly knows who Yuki or I am anymore. Just...classmates at school, I guess. She might not even remember me at all."

Arisa was quiet for a moment. She wasn't sure if she liked that better than a physical beating or not. She supposed, if Tohru wouldn't remember anything, then whatever events transpired, she couldn't possibly be hurt by them. Still, it wasn't fair, that Akito could rape the girl's mind like that. It just wasn't right.

"...How's the prince?"

"That damned rat? He's..." Kyo trailed off, shaking his head. He was getting ready to say he was fine, but he knew that'd be a lie. Not that Tohru was any more important to the rat than she was to him, but Yuki was likely taking this harder than Kyo was. He didn't have anyone else to turn to, and he wasn't used to losing people. Kyo was the one who had already been through something like this - worse - with his mother. Yuki hadn't built up the same type of barriers Kyo had.

"He's not so good." The cat sighed. "We'd better give him his space tomorrow, you know?" Arisa nodded, while Kyo went on. "And, not so much flirty stuff. I really like you, Arisa, but...Yuki would be jealous. At least for a couple days, just give him a break."

The blonde sighed softly and clunked her head against Kyo's shoulder. The boy smiled meekly and rested his head against hers, pressing his cheek lightly into her sleek golden hair.

"You wanna stay the night, Kyon-chan?"

"Hm?"

"...we've got the floor or the couch...it's not much but. Well, it would give Yuki more space."

Kyo blinked at her, his face flushing a bit. He wasn't sure if Arisa meant anything more by the question than she was letting on. Dear God, he hoped not. He was no where near ready to be _that_ close to her.

Arisa smiled in sweet amusement when she realized how Kyo had taken the question.

"Nothing funny, orangetop. I glimpse you dropping your pants for anything other than a piss you're dead." Kyo relaxed at this, but still seemed a little nervous about the proposal.

"Listen," Arisa said, a little more serious, "I just think...it might be good for you, to spend a night away from Shigure's house. Tohru's been there as long as you have, hasn't she? At least here, you could take your mind off her for a bit." A smile slid onto the cat's face, and he nodded.

"Alright, Uotani. I'll stay the night."

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

awww :hugs Uo and Kyo: they so cuuuute :3 in any case, I hope this'll tide you guys over well enough xP come November I'll have some more stuffs for ya, so hopefully you'll have that to look forward to :)


	11. Secrets and Memoirs Kindle a Flame

**Reviewer Replies:**

**MissRule**: HAPPY BIRTHDAY:throws confetti:

**ZeldaDragon**: oh. my. god. You're going to make me cry ;.;

This is the sweetest, most thoughtful review I have ever read, THANKYOUSOMUCH:hugs: I'm humbled that I could serve such an inspiration :3 Honestly, I didn't realize this was so good xD

As for the rest of you, her little one-shot for Uo and Kyo was pretty sweet. For the such-awesome-review, she gets a plug from me :3 (not that the writing had ANYTHING to do with it xD) so, here it is...

GO READ HER STUFF! I only read the one-shot (because that's all I've had time to do ;.;) but from what I can tell she's quite good ;D Anyone who can leave that thoughtful and well-worded of a review, I'm confident can write a decent story :3 hehe

:hugs againn:

**faol-sidhe**: oh, I had fun :rolls eyes:

Actually, it wasn't soo bad. I think I'm caught up now o.O

and yes, poor, porr Tohru :pats: she's not that poor though ;D tee-hee.

**inuishima94**: To be truthfully honest, I actually haven't done much thinking about a pairing for Hana. I've been told by close friends (who have insidentally had quite a bit of influence on the story) that they'd LOVE to see Hana and Haru get together (Hana _has_ seen him naked twice now, afterall xDD) but eh :shrug: in the end, I think I'm just not going to plan ahead on that one and just let it happen if it happens. If I try and plan something like that too overtly, it might run into things I need Hana to do later xD ackkk we can't have that happen.

Plus, not knowing is kind of fun. In that way, I'm sort of a spectator like you all are - I never know WHAT my fingers are going to type! xD

And don't forget - you mentioned Akito, as well ;3

**Ile**: now, this was a very satisfying review, as well. It's quite nice to know that I'm giving you so many emotions - lord knows I've tried ;D hehe glad you like. :hugs:

**cho: **I make it my business to give all my reviewers replies :3 Someone would feel left out if I didn't, and that would be sad! D: lol it's my way of saying thanks for the reviews, cause they're all much appreciated, no matter how random or cryptic you are xD

Chapter Summary: Kyo and Uo clash again - possibly for the last time? And what's this that's kindling within Tohru? Is there something alien about our little riceballian friend?

Author Comments: It's early, I know - when it occurred to me that November first was the day after Halloween (I'm dense enough it takes a while for dates to sink in xD) I thought I'd make it your guys' little Hallow's Eve treat. especially since I got stuck early and could only find productivity in reading back over and finalizing the chap xD I think I finally have a buffer now...I built up about 30 pages, so hopefilyl it'll tide me over a while :3 in the meantime, my muse seems to be returning, and school is slowing down. Soooooooo relieved. :faints of relievedness: enjoy, while I sleep ;3

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Leaving for school a little early, aren't you, Yuki?"

Shigure stood stoicly in the hallway to his study, greeting Yuki as the teen made his way calmly down the stairs. Yuki tossed a glare, and Shigure continued before the younger boy thought up anything to say.

"Why, I do believe this must be a miracle! My little Yuki dressed with his hair brushed a full hour before he usually leaves for school! What, pray tell, would cause such an upstart?"

The rat rolled his eyes at the mutt's dramatics, but saw no harm in answering truthfully. He held the bags in his hand up to Shigure as visual aide.

"Hatori and I didn't think to get Miss Honda's things last night-"

"Mighty forgetful of you," Shigure clicked his tongue and playfully chided, but Yuki went on as though there had been no interruption.

"So I'm taking them to her this morning." Shigure nodded, graciously letting the teen slip out the door.

"Be safe, Yuki."

-

The teen paused several paces down the lawn, a bit aways from the driveway. He saw a car pull up, and a flustery red Kagura leap out and make her way for the house. Yuki sighed and rolled his eyes; as cruel a thing as it was for him to do, he'd leave that job up to Shigure.

"Oh, Shigure, please, tell me he's here!" Kagura demanded desperately as the dog opened the door, blinking as the boar startled him with her sudden request. "Shigure, please! Kyo! Where is he? And Tohru! Is she alright?"

"Calm down, Kagura," Shigure laughed uneasily, motioning downward with his hands, hoping to get the boar settled a bit.

"Tohru is fine. As for Kyo, I can't say; we thought we'd left him sleeping on the roof last night, but he was no where to be found when I got up this morning." Kagura whimpered, and Shigure gave her an encouraging pat on the head.

"Now, I'm sure Kyo is fine, too. He came home rather disagreeable yesterday - I think something must've happened at school. Knowing him, he's likely dissappeared for another four months - or for a while, at least."

"Oh, but I have to talk to him! Akito said that-" Shigure startled her quite a bit by pulling her into a brisk and surprisingly affectionate hug. Shigure was a wonderfully fun person to be around, and a great companion to have, but he wasn't supposed to be so _warm_. That was...odd.

"I'm sure whatever you two have to talk about can wait-"

"Oh, but it can't! I have to-"

"Why?"

Shigure's calm but frank question silenced Kagura, and she pouted, noting that she didn't have a reason to talk to Kyo _right away_. All that Akito had said to her was that he was considering giving her love for Kyo his blessing - something she'd been pleading for for quite some time - but he wouldn't decide until he could talk to Kyo and Kagura together.

She wanted to set that up as soon as possible, but, as she thought about it, if Kyo was upset about something at school, then perhaps it _would_ be best to wait, and show Akito his best possible face. Akito's offer could be their one chance to not only have their relationship blessed - a true honor, considering the rarity that a blessing from Akito truly is - but this could also be Kyo's chance to finally be a part of the family. Afterall, if Akito approved of their relationship, and Kagura was an integral member of the Zodiac, then wouldn't Akito finally see Kyo as a part of the family as well?

"Run along," Shigure nudged Kagura gently towards the car, smiling warmly to her. "I promice I'll call you as soon as Kyo gets back, and you can talk with him then. But if he's on one of his infamous journies, I think we'd do best to leave him alone."

Kagura nodded solumly and sniffled her way back towards the car. Shigure stepped out onto the porch to see her off, and with his range of sight outside no longer blocked by Kagura and the doorframe, he made two observations right off the bat:

Hatori was reading quietly in his car, looking up only when Kagura opened the door and plopped into the passenger seat next to him; and, more importantly, Shigure saw that a stoic Hatsuharu stood on the edge of the hill, watching the figure of Yuki dissappearing into the woods.

Shigure smiled quietly to himself and dissappeared into the house, dare he disturb Haru's vision if he kept on watching. He didn't know how long Kagura and Hatori waited in the car for Haru to be finished watching his favorite rat, nor did he care. He just hoped Yuki would realize that just because Tohru was no longer in his reach, didn't mean that all potential to love was lost. As wonderfully angsty as Haru's jealousy had been, it had been getting progressively worse the longer he and Isuzu had been appart, and frankly by this point, even the novelist was starting to find it apalling. Not to mention, Haru was in the family. Although the nature of their relationship might cause them some grief with Akito, at least being in the family would prove to be a little simpler. Someone in the family Akito couldn't simply cast aside like he had Tohru, and perhaps, Shigure thought, that might provide Yuki with at least a glimmer of comfort.

-/-/-

"Oh..M-Miss Honda..." Yuki stood petrified on Tohru's doorstep. Somehow he hadn't expected the riceball to be the one to answer the door, although now that she had, he should've known. Aside from her grandfather, she was the most courteous one in the house, afterall.

"He-hello, Yuki," the brunette's chest gave a small thad-ump as she invited the boy in, her eyes trailing down to the sacks in his hand. She should be petrified. That is to say, she _was_ - and yet, it was more out of excitement than anxiety. Something leapt for joy inside of her to see Yuki, but...that didn't make any sense.

A memory popped up, seemingly out of no where, but it was something she could reference against, in any case. She recalled that Yuki had walked her to and from school about a year ago. She'd been so anxious and nervous and frightened then - sickly, almost - to be walking to school with the _prince_. He hadn't really spoken to her since then, but she could sense that somehow something had changed between them. She wondered if for some reason he'd been thinking about her all this time, as she'd been thinking about him.

But, no, what a silly thought to have. He was the _prince_, afterall. He wouldn't waste his thoughts on a silly little girl like her.

"I...have some things for your grandfather...is he here?" Yuki shied away from telling her the items in the bags were hers - how would he explain that one? Tohru smiled in blissful ignorange and gave a cheerful nod.

"Oh, alright. He's in his room; You can just wait here and I'll go get him for you, kay?"

"Alright," Yuki smiled warmly, watching Tohru a little jealously as she happily skipped up the stairs. How carefree she much be now, happily oblivious to the travesty she'd been in the middle of before. Not only did Yuki find himself reeling with yerning for her, and the pain of the restrictions Akito had adressed to him, but Yuki also felt quite a large glimmour of jealousy towards Tohru herself; she could simply forget and move on with her life, but Yuki was still trapped in that goddamn cage. He'd never escape.

"Why, hello, son," Yuki was broken from his lustful daze by the gentle voice of Tohru's grandfather as he appeared in front of him, smiling calmly to the boy.

"I've got to go get ready for school," Tohru announced cheerfully, and Yuki and her grandfather both gave her a sweet nod to dismiss her back up to her room.

"I hear you have some things for me?" he grinned a little mischieviously, knowing full well that Yuki hadn't needed to see him. Yuki caught the notion, and lazily handed the old man the sacks, nodding fruitlessly.

"Come back and visit any time, you understand. I'm not sure why Tohru doesn't remember half the things that happened last year...but I'm willing to look over that. Thank you again for taking such good care of her." Yuki flushed and looked to the side, a nervous hand rubbing a little viciously at the back of his neck.

"It...was nothing. It was an honor, having her in the house - she was a wonderful cook. But this is where she truly belongs, with her family." somehow the small-statured man was silenced at Yuki's calm sentiments, and his grin slipped into a slight frown.

"Come back and visit anytime," he repeated, a little emptily, "I like the idea of my little Tohru being with a handsome young boy like you," he shuffled quite efficiently up the stairs, leaving Yuki standing in silence to ponder over his comment.

How did he know? In the few times that Yuki had seen him, had he really been that obvious?

"Oh, Yuki, you're still here." Yuki was greeted by a pair of wide, happily surprized eyes, as a uniform-clad Tohru greeted him by the door.

"Oh, um, yes," Yuki chuckled a little nervously. He'd drifted into thought, and wasn't quite sure how long he'd been obliviously standing there. He hoped he hadn't been too long. "I guess I should be -"

"Oh, wait! Since you're here, why don't we walk to school together?"

Tohru was a little shocked by her own boldness, but the fact of the matter was she knew it's what she wanted to do. She could recall Yuki's boldness in asking her the same question; it had been something like a year ago, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. It was a little odd - somehow, that day way back then, when Yuki had walked with her to school, was the clearest day she could remember. The rest of the year, for whatever reason, was just a blur of times with Uo and Hana, and the regular workings of school. Why did she suddenly get the feeling that she was forgetting something?

Yuki had been flushed and silent for a moment, leading Tohru to wonder if maybe she had been too bold to ask, but the prince kindly interrupted that thought before she had time to finish it, and put on a sweet smile.

"I would love to walk you to school, Tohru." Afterall, Akito hadn't said anything about a harmless canter.

-/-/-

The walk to school was long and quiet, but surprisingly comfortable. There was little the two could find to talk about; Tohru couldn't remember much about Yuki, afterall, and Yuki dare not converse too much, lest he mention something Tohru ought not to know. So the two contented themselves with pleasant smiles and the warmth of the other's stride.

They both recieved and gave confounded looks as they approached school, matching gazes with Yuki's cousin and Tohru's friend.

"Who's that?" Yuki's heart sank for Kyo at Tohru's innocent question. There was a certain sort of despiration in Tohru's voice as well, which somewhat puzzled the prince. But Tohru was -- _frustrated_. She knew she knew him, and somehow she knew that Yuki knew him, but she couldn't come up with who he was. This obnoxiously everpresent deja vu notion was starting to get rather annoying, and she rather desprately wanted it to go away.

"That's my cousin, Kyo."

"Oh, right!" Tohru brightened with recognition, which puzzled Yuki greatly, and even disturbed him a bit. He'd seen Hatori supress memories before, and he didn't think memories had ever broken free. But there Tohru did it, right off the bat, and was about to do it again.

"The...cat...?" Tohru blinked at her own words, and indeed was hesitant to to say them, as strange as she knew it sounded, but it was an odd thought that she just coudn't keep to herself.

Yuki was shocked enough that he stopped walking and simply gawked, causing Tohru to stop next to him, blushing and looking down, a bit asamed of her speculation. She supposed maybe she could come up with something better.

"Well, I mean...you must have a cat named Kyo, right?" she paused again, while Yuki just continued a blank stare, in disbelief of his riceball's apparent risiliance. "Or maybe..." Tohru faded off, searching again for another tangent to make her comment legitimate.

"I guess I must've met someone whose cat's name was Kyo... maybe..." she giggled and gave Yuki a smile, which finally broke the rat out of his daze. "The name Kyo just reminds me of a cat somehow. Silly, I know."

"Sure," Yuki chuckled lightly, his suprise losing its furver and his calm enjoyment sinking back in. "But for some reason, he's always reminded me of a cat, too."

"Oh, well then that's good," Tohru giggled, as the couple started again to walk, their brief moment of awkwardness past. "So I'm not the only silly one,"

"Yeah," Yuki laughed, "You're not the only silly one." without realising it, a hand playfully ruffled her hair. Akito had said he wasn't to touch her again, but he simply couldn't help himself. Just now, Akito was the last thing on his mind.

-

"I thought you said Tohru'd forgotten bout Yuki?"

Arisa was dumbfounded, as was Kyo. The cat gave a shrug, lost as to why they were watching Tohru and Yuki playing just like they were still a couple - moreso than before, even. It was an arbitrary detail, but Kyo didn't think he remembered ever seeing Yuki rustle up her hair. It was a motion that was a little more..._playful_, really, than Kyo thought his cousin could be.

"I guess he's not quite detatched yet,"

Yes, that would explain _Yuki's_ behavior, but why Tohru was reciprocating was a mystery. He supposed, did the feelings carry over? Kana had kept just a shade of hers, but it had seemed to fade away quickly. And Momiji's mom certainly lost her motherly instincts towards him. Tohru was an impressive girl, but how could she be such a remarkable exception? Hatori was good at what he did; if Tohru had retained some of her memories, she was even more impressive than he'd thought - even more impressive than any human being _should_ be.

"Hey, Tohru." Uo raised a hand in greeting, wiping the mild astonishment from her face to put on a smile for her approaching friend.

"Hi Uo." Tohru greeted with a smile, and turned a bow to Kyo. "And I hear you're Kyo. Yuki said you were his cousin?"

"Y-yeah, that's right?" damn, figures. She remembered _Yuki_ - or at least dimly recollected him - but it seemed all _Kyo_ was to her memory was a face she was curious about. He'd been alright with Tohru and Yuki before then, but now, he felt the cold stab of jealousy, his vision green with the dissappointment in Tohru's selective recollection. Was Yuki really that much more important to her?

"How long have you known Yuki?" it occured to Kyo that he'd been reading too much into this, so he quickly tried coming up with a roundabout way to get a strait answer. Although with Tohru, he doubted it would work.

"Well, I mean," Tohru found her self blushing a bit. This was the prince of her highschool, afterall. "I've known him for a couple years now...well, just known who he was, really. You know, Yuki's really popular in school. Has he told you? He's the prince of Kawaia high, although with all the fangirls he gets, I'm not sure it's nessesarily a good thing-"

"I get it," Kyo cut her off. It had been a long time since Tohru's rambling had bothered him, but now he grew frustrated with her rather easily. No doubt he was still pissed about the memories; the only other time he thought Tohru'd been taken away from him, he'd grown rather pissy then, as well. This was a little different, but he knew what to pin his disagreeable mood on.

"I think he means how long we've known eachother _like this_." Yuki laughed uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck, before turning to his cousin. He thought he might understand why Kyo was a bit snappy this morning, the events of last night aside. "Only today, really, though there was a time we met about a year ago."

"Oh that's right!" Tohru cheerfully recollected. "Yuki walked me to school once before, too. Oh..."

Suddenly something came to her. She remembered, in her conversation with Yuki that day about a year ago, he'd mentioned something about cats. Odd, that their only two conversations a year appart, seemed to center around - or at least include - a cat. Why did she seem to think there was something particularly nostalgic about cats?

But, a memoir of a bit more importance, was that Yuki hadn't liked cats. She glanced a little uneasily between the cousins, making the connection rather well. Kyo reminded him of something he didn't like, so he must not like Kyo. That was sad. Even in this small amount of time of knowing the carrot-top, she'd decided she liked him. She got the impression Arisa was quite fond of him, as well. Still, something hinted to her that she ought to give Yuki an excuse to leave his cousin be. Somehow - a notion beyond her own comprehension - she felt that Arisa might like to socialize more with Kyo by herself, anyway.

"Say, Yuki," she boldly grabbed his arm, summoning a blush to the prince's cheeks. "Would you like to come with me to find my friend Hana? I mean, if you don't have anything else you need to do; I wouldn't want to-"

"No, I'd like to meet your friend." Yuki smiled sweetly to her, rousing a blush from her cheeks, as well.

-

"...Well, rangetop, would ya look at that?" Arisa smiled crookedly at the cuple that walked hand-in-hand into the school, off to search out the third friend of the three-fold party. "Memories wiped and the next day they're still a couple, even if Tohru doesn't even know it."

"That doesn't make any sense." Kyo blinked after them in utter disbelief, and Arisa tossed him a crooked glance.

"What do you mean?"

"Supressing memories is permanant, and complete. Hatori's done it plenty of times, but that's irrelevant anyway; aside from Akito, the dragon's basically the most powerful one - I mean, it would make sense, right?"

"Hatori's the dragon?" this was the first Arisa had heard of it. She couldn't help busting a crooked grin just thinking about it, "That's kinda cool. I'd wanna be the dragon. That would be friggin awesome."

Kyo rolled his eyes lightly at Arisa's grin, but shrugged it off and continued with his explanation. "Tohru's remembering feelings, whether she realizes it or not. She _remembers_ something, Uotani. That's huge, and a rare."

"Why? Doesn't it-"

"It. Just. _Is_. Akito's _not_ going to be happy." At that Arisa pouted, and tugged Kyo's sleeve gently, nudging him towards the school.

"Come on, Kyon-Chan. For once, can't we not talk about Akito? God damn, I either want to talk to the man or forget about him. Can't one of those be possible? _Anytime_ soon?" Kyo pulled his sleeve from her grip, though not violently, and kicked shyly at the ground.

"I just don't know Uotani. I mean, what we're doing...You'll have to go to see Akito _soon_, I know it, but...I want to...to put it off, because when it happens, that might be the end of it."

"Bah," Arisa scoffed, "A punch or two isn't gonna-"

"It's not that, Yankee! I'm scared you won't accept- ...I...I'm scared you'll FORGET!"

Arisa was quieted by Kyo's sudden iron grip on her wrist, and the mild fire in his eyes as he glared at her. Like Hana so often did, the glare wasn't _at_ _her_, but rather just happened to be in her direction. Still, for the first time in her life, Kyo had scared her. His grip on her wrist...it hurt, and his eyes were burning for hatred and fear of something that he wasn't telling her. That fine print - he was afraid _she wouldn't accept_ - she'd already accepted that he was a cat; there was still something else?

"What the hell are you so god damned afraid of, orangetop?"

Arisa ripped her wrist away from him, regaining herself from the momentary fear Kyo'd implanted in her, and glared back with the same intimidating glance Kyo was giving her. They were developing an audience, but neither of them noticed, or cared.

"Akito, damnit," Kyo asserted, but not very strongly. He knew he'd slipped - and he knew Arisa had caught it - but he still couldn't bring himself to tell her.

"God _damnit_, Kyo," Arisa spat to the side, her frustration with him shining through brilliantly, "I can't take any more secrets. If you're hiding something ELSE from me, then this relationship is over. We won't need to rely on Akito to do that for us."

Kyo was silent for a moment, and for the first time glanced to the small number of people who had spied their rather loud feud, and his glance was enough to make them back off, with some murmurs and whispers amongst themselves.

With a sigh, Kyo glanced down to his bracelet, stuffed his fists into his pockets out of sight, and looked up to face a glowering Arisa again.

"I'm trying to hide _you_ from _Akito_, Uotani. That's it. There _is_ nothing else." He just plain wasn't ready to tell Arisa what he was really hiding her from. He didn't like _lieing_ to her, but she wasn't giving him much choice.

Something melted in Arisa's eyes. She stared at him for a moment longer, her teeth nibbling timidly at her lower lip. As was to be expected, she saw through his pathetic excuse of a facade.

"Then we're done, Orangetop," Kyo's heart sank at her whispy, half-whispered words, tearing a hole in both their hearts. "I _won't_ be hidden away."

Arisa knew; he was still hiding something else - it seemed he was _always _hiding something else - but even the fact that he was hiding her from _Akito_ was something she was growing tired of.

"Just...let me see Akito; let this relationship be out in the open with your family. I can't take being the secret anymore."

"I ...can't." Kyo couldn't look at her anymore. His face was cast to the side, his shoulder leaned against the wall of the school, his bangs casting a wary shadow over his glazed eyes. He thought only yesterday he was truly starting to love Arisa, but now they were...they were breaking up? It couldn't be happening...it just couldn't.

"Let me know when you can." Arisa said quietly, turning lethargically away, "Until then, we've got nothing more to talk about."

The Yankee meandered slowly into the school, leaving the cat weighing himself on the bricks of the wall, to run away from the building not half a minute later, tears sliding down his cheeks as he ran back for Shigure's. Only once had the canine been able to comfort him before, but at this moment Kyo knew no one else to go to. God _damn_ the day Shigure was Kyo's only potential for comfort. He hated that mutt, but there was no one else to go to.

If Hatori hadn't slipped and told Akito - god _damnit_, if it wasn't for that goddamned seahorse, he'd still have his riceball to go to. Kyo had thought he hated that rat with a passion, but he was starting to see that the dragon had something to pay.

...-...-...-...-...-...-

oh NOES! Emily has nothing more to say:bites nails: wow, I'm exeedingly hyper. This is what I get for eating those cupcakes last night. Good GOD those were made of SUGARRR:explodes:


	12. Timely Secrets Need to be Kept

**Reviewer Replies:**

**Arnoldstrife:** :salutes: updated :3 tee-hee

**ZeldaDragon**: Hey, you deserved it. What else did I owe someone who took the time to write out three paragraphs and fill them to the brim with highly useful and inspiring content?

Ha, my friends and I were planning on being Uo, Hana, Tohru and Kyo for Halloween. One of my friends did end up being Kyo, but Katrina, who was going to be Uo, ended up being Halloween town Sora instead, so I followed her and decided on Dark Rikku :3 I'll be Hana one of these years though. I probably look more the part for Arisa, but - as much as I love KyoxUo together, I identify with Arisa the least xD I'm never violent - ever. As shameful as it is, I've been classified as the "Tohru" of our group xD I still say I identify best with Hana though. Relationship-wise, anyway : P god damn always being the fifth wheel xP

anyhoo, before I slip into a rant about that, I'd just like to thank you again for the nice long review :3

And favorite author's list! sweet! xD thanks so much. Now I feel motivated to improve the rest of my smut... :burns SM fanfic: xD; I actually do have a Zelda and RahXephon fic started, but they won't be up until some time after I finish this one, so it'll be a while xD I have to say though, the 10 pages I have on them so far are pretty good though :3 hehe

ANYWAY! xD as much as I love you, I love the other reviewers too! Must move on!

**faol-sidhe**: oh, there's a reason :3 pretty damn obvious reason, too, if you ask me (but then again, I would know, wouldn't I? xD)

Seriously, a cookie goes to whoever can figure out the difference between the others (Kana and Momiji's mom, per example) and Tohru. It's there. I promice I'm not just pulling stuff out of my butt :3 (hate it when people do that, infact) You just have to think _real_ hard. Or just naturally bear the same sense of logic I do xD hehe. It'll come.

Oh, by the way? xD My friend, who's read the first...six chapters, I think? happened to glance over my shoulder as I was reading reviews, and she sees 'So why does Toru remember Yuki?' and her first response is to stare at me evilly for a long time before going-

"YOU ERASED HER MEMORIES, DIDN'T YOU!" :3 all I could do was grin. Poor Claire :pats: sometimes I think I torture her.

Of course, her next response was

"AND THEY SPELLED TOHRU WRONG!" xD the spelling freak. For all it's worth, her grammer could use some help though xD

oye. It'll be interested when she catches up and read all this xD; hehe

**inuishima**: well I'd be lying if I said I intended any current situation to be permanant xD let's put it that way.

**mystlady**: haha, I agree. Kagura annoys me to no end. She and Ritsu. Something about their overbearing loudness and lack of deep human characteristics / I'm too critical, but they're too charicature-y xD Although I _can_ find something deeper in Kagura if I look hard enough (and indeed you will see me _try_ to bring that out at _some_ point during the story) but Ritsu's just...ughhh, as if Tohru's apologizing wasn't enough, that monkey just drives me over the edge xD

but enough of my ranting. I would also like to thank you for the reviews on the other stories :3 lol it's been like two years since I worked on either of those, and I doubt they'll be brought back to life anytime soon :sigh: still, as always, the reviews are much appreciated, although I feel a little self-concious now that I know someone's read them. xD I went back and grazed over The Battle Begins and was like "Good GOD that's crap." but ah well - I'm flattered that you reviewed it anyway :3

**Sarah**: OHMIGOODNESS! one of my BESTEST-BEST friend's name is Sarah :3 so you totally get, like, second-place for the bestest-best name EVER! (Sorry, but unfortunately, the Emily we had earlier beat you to it xD hehe)

_longname_: I'm too lazy to type out (xD) I'm glad you enjoyed the story, and I hope you find your pass:hugs you for good luck:

chapter summary: Murmurs of memoirs unlock a spile, and advice seeks to calm the feud.

Author comments: I have a rant. Good lord, our town hardly celebrates Halloween. The teenagers, anyway. Since when is it uncool to dress up for Halloween? Honestly, I feel depressed due to the lack of festiveness among my peers. The Japanese club at school sponsored a cosplay contest, and out of..hmm...2000-some students, HOW many entered?

5. See that? F-I-V-E! Not 50, not 500, 5!

The upshot is that my makeshift Dark Rikku costume won third place and I got a Shaman King manga xD woot.

Even so, there was also the fact that maybe 10 people recognized me _all day_. Even those, most people only recognized the game I was from (I should hope the hooked red heart in the center should give it away) and labelled me as regular old Heartless, which I guess is on the right path. I admit that's probably just because most of them haven't gotten that far in the game, but the fact remains 10 people even got Kingdom Hearts. Lord knows how many times I was called a bat. xP idgets, THE COSTUME WASN'T THAT BAD! I mean really. Bah.

But seriously, how sad is it that about one in 200 students at school knows KH well enough to recognize a freaking hooked heart? sad, sad, sad, sad, sad. My town is severely deprived.

Anyway, that is my rant. I officially hate Missouri. Not that I haven't despised my state for quite a while... the only redeeming fact is that we're NOT Kansas, but even then, we really aren't too far behind, and we _are_ nextdoor ;P I could drop into a political rant, too, but I'm betting you guys just want to move on and read the story xD Feel free to email me, and I'll be MORE than glad to drop into playful political banter. muahaha.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Pleasure to meet you," Hanajima bowed majestically to the prince Tohru introduced to her, and Yuki bowed pleasantly back. "I hope I'll see you often, Yuki...you and Tohru would make a fine couple."

Hana's eyes flashed a little maliciously as Yuki and Tohru both went crimson. Yuki had just remembered that Hana didn't know yet. Of course she wouldn't know yet. But...then why was she hinting?

"Gee, I dunno about that..." Tohru said nervously, but drew in a sudden breath and turned hastily to Yuki.

"OHH! But that's not to say that I don't think you're a wonderful boy or anything I just don't know you all that well and it just wouldn't be-"

"That's all right, Miss Honda," Yuki chuckled nevously, holding up his hands gently to motion Tohru to calm down. "I know how you ment it."

"Oh...all...right." the riceball blinked, finding nothing to do but gaze at Yuki for a long moment, while Yuki gazed back.

"Nonetheless..." Hana offered up quietly again, "You two would be well-suited for eachother," the teens just continued their bashful stare, and couldn't have been happier to see Uotani walk into the room. At least, that was the initial thought.

"Uo!" Tohru rushed to her friend, her arms opened cheerfully to give and receive a hug, but Arisa did nothing to reciprocate, and held about her a rather loud air of depression. "...Uo?"

The riceball had to bend down a little to get under Arisa's gaze and look up into her eyes, trying to decipher what was wrong. The blonde head of hair fell roughly and without warning onto the riceball's shoulders, and Tohru found herself having to sink to the ground and clasp her arms around Arisa's to calm the girl's suddenly shaking body.

All the students in the classroom - including Yuki's fanclub - hurried around this rare sight of Arisa Uotani crying and clinging to Tohru Honda for comfort. It had always been the other way around, if any scene like this ever took place at all. The students, needless to say, were all atonished, and completely transfixed.

Hanajima and Yuki made their way towards the scene, but by the time they got there the crowd had filled in to the point that all sightlines were taken.

"Hey-hey, break it up, break it up!" the teacher made her way through the crowd, thinking that someone was injured or fighting or something, but stopped breathlessly in her tracks like the rest of the students when she saw Arisa Uotani balled over her dazed and helpless brown-haired friend, doing a surprisingly pathetic job of keeping her emotions inside her. What was _this_? She thought; Since when did the Yankee have tear ducts?

"Alright, everyone, clear out," the teacher graciously shooed the students away and helped the near-delusional Arisa to her feet. "You kids better behave yourselves. Mio, you can be in charge while I'm gone. Now come on Uotani, let's get you home-"

"NO!" Arisa shrieked as she ripped away from the teacher, faltering a few steps into the hall. "The HELL if I'm going to that hell-hole. You bitches can just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Before the teacher had any time to react the Yankee screamed and ripped down the hall, humiliated that she'd broken down in front of her entire class, and still pissed that she hadn't been worth the secret that Kyo was hiding.

She'd been so convinced that Kyo was the one for her - so many things about him were perfect - she hadn't realized that he'd been hiding a secret that could break her - even before she knew what it was. How could Kyo _do_ this to her? He didn't even give her the chance to accept him - for _whatever_ he is. She would. Of _course_ she would, but why wouldn't he let her?

-

"Sensei, if you don't mind, may I go after her?"

"I think you'd better, Hanajima," the teacher huffed and straitened out her hair, watching in astonishment as the blonde rushed down the hall and turned down another. Hanajima simply paced slowly after her, somehow expecting to catch up.

"Miss Honda-" Yuki had made his way over to Tohru as soon as the crowd had cleared. "Miss Honda, what happened?" he set his hand gently but firmly on the riceball's shoulder, trying to bring her out of the tear-filled daze she'd fallen into.

"I...don't know..." she whimpered. Her eyes gazed fruitlessly at her hands, inspecting them as though she saw blood. "She wouldn't tell me..." never before had this happened. It was frightful that Arisa was upset enough that she couldn't hide it to go to class - but what was frightening even moreso was that all Arisa would _do_ was cry. She didn't even bother to speak, no matter how desperately Tohru asked her what was wrong.

It was a rather critical way for Tohru to think, but Arisa hadn't been crying so hard that speech was impossible. She could have _tried_, but she didn't _want_ to. She didn't _want_ to tell Tohru what was wrong. There was a problem, that Tohru couldn't help her friend with. A horrifying problem, which was _detrimental_ to the poor riceball's overactive responsibility complex.

"I couldn't help her stop crying..." Yuki brushed his thumb across her cheek, catching a tear that threatened to slide down. "I couldn't help her...I couldn't stop-"

"Miss Honda, that's alright." he said quietly, taking her hands reassuringly into his own. "You didn't need to help her stop crying; whatever the matter was, she simply needed to cry, and she needed your shoulder to cry on. You helped her that way."

"**Yo**, Souma,"

The teacher beckoned suddenly, and Yuki shot his face up, his cheeks flushing rosey. At least the part of the class that was still near them had heard his lame couple of lines, and he could feel odd stares because of it, too.

"You need some time with your girlfriend? Feel free - it seems something rather heavy happened this morning, it'd be alright if you two need to step out for a bit."

They both turned crimson at the teacher's mention of a relationship that wasn't supposed to exist. Tohru was just lost as to why people today seemed to want to be pushing her and Yuki together. She hardly _knew_ the boy! Besides, the Prince Yuki fanclub gils cared more for him than anyone...wouldn't they be his first choice?

"N-no, sensei," Tohru sniffed back her last tears and

let Yuki help her up. "I'll be alright in just a

moment."

"Alright," the teacher shrugged and started for the chalkboard, signalling students to return to their seats and start to settle down. Murmers could be heard throughout the room, bringing both Tohru and Yuki's attention intensely on the conversations saturating the air.

_"I saw them having a fight out in front of the school like ten minutes ago,"_

_"Really? I was wondering when those two were going to blow up. Aside from that new Hatsuharu kid Kyo's the most violent guy in school."_

_"Yeah, I know, and Uotani takes the cake as the best fighter he coud've taken for a girlfriend."_

_"How did those two ever get together to begin with, anyway?"_

_"Who knows? I said they were doomed to end in a fight from the start. That's what happens when you get two people like that together."_

_"I thought they were kind of **cute**."_

_"Cute's not the word I'd use for it..."_

_"Do you think she'll be okay?"_

_"Uotani? She'll be fine. It's more that carrot-top I'd be worried about. God knows what's going through his head right now."_

_"Yeah right. The way Uotani was bawling, he must've been the one who dumped her. He's probably getting his jollies right now on some other girl."_

_"Well, I had always thought that he liked Tohru..."_

That was it. That was the point where Tohru's head started reeling. She sat in her seat, her hands clinging desparately to her temples, trying to block the conversations out. Too many realizations all at once, she found, can give you quite the headache.

She'd known Kyo for _much_ longer than she'd initially thought. She'd known that Kyo was violent. How did she not place him until now? You'd think she'd come up with who he really was when Yuki had told her, but apparently that hadn't been enough to register.

She'd also known that Arisa and Kyo had been going out. For what, a _week_ now? Why was she just now remembering these things? It was like something was trying to _keep_ her from remembering them, but she was pulling against it, and that's what made her head hurt. She'd _known_ she'd been forgetting things, and she wanted desperately to remember them. Why was there something inside of her fighting back?

That last comment stuck with her particularly. She had...she had _known_ that. But she hadn't realized it until now, and it didn't just involve a forgetful spell, either. She remembered, when Kyo and Arisa were going out, she'd concluded he didn't in fact like her that way; she'd also concluded she didn't like him that way, either. But something pounding suddenly inside her chest said otherwise, and she realized that if she hadn't had Yuki-

**Yuki**.

_...Yuki_...

The teacher wasn't joking.

Yuki was staring at her, but looked bashfully away when her eyes met his, and she responded by shooting her face strait ahead to the chalkboard, blushing crimson for having looked at him.

She had been _going out_ with _Prince Yuki Souma_. She'd talked with Yuki a _lot_ that year. Why on earth had she thought that all this time he'd just ignored her?

It was like a gate unlocked in the back of her mind and a flood of memoies came rushing to her, but she was having to work to keep the gate open. It waned to close, but she couldn't let it. There was still something else, something she was forgetting, that she knew was important. It was something about Yuki, and Kyo, and their relatives...but most of all Kyo. Something with a bad omen surrounding it, but an omen she knew she'd already dealt with peaceably. Agh, what WAS it?

"All right, class settle down."

The teacher's voice was demanding as always, and succeeded in quieting the students, dictating strictly that it was time for class to start.

It was then, in that estranged moment of silence, that Tohru finally found what she was searching for in the flood of memories, and her heart wrenched at the sight of the monster, glowering frightfully to her in the woods. All in one moment her grip on the etherial doorhandle slipped, and the floodgates slammed shut, threatening to take her recollections along with them.

The riceball let out a scream; she cried a name, but it was too late. By the time her voice quieted the name was gone, and she couldn't remember what she'd said.

She blinked open her eyes after her lungs emptied, and something was very different than it had been just a moment before. She knew instantly that something etherial had been lost.

A revalation?

A memory?

A dream?

Yes, that was it: a dream.

As she blinked her eyes calmly open now, it was as though she'd just awakened from a dream - a dream which, though she desperately wanted to, she couldn't for the life of her remember.

It was as she took a moment to observe her surroundings that she realized awakening from a dream was precicely what she'd done.

She sat up quietly, looking around to find herself in the nurse's station of her school. Of all the people in the school, Prince Yuki Souma sat next to her, and a surprisingly intense feel of relief flooded into his eyes at the sight of Tohru's arousal.

"Miss Honda, are you feeling any better?"

"I ... think so. What happened?" she glanced around wide-eyed, blinking as she took in her surroundings "I was just in the classroom a minute ago...wasn't I?"

"You collapsed right as class started. I opted to bring you down here. You've only been out for a few minutes. Are you feeling alright?"

"Y-yes. A little dizzy, I guess." she was dazed, and Yuki was starting to look a little worried again.

"What do you remember?"

"Not much," Tohru admitted sheepishly, "I dunno, something big happened in class...and, and there was this...argument? Really, I'm not sure. I must've hit my head on the way down, I guess."

She put on that goofy smile she so often did, and Yuki smiled crookedly back. It was a little worrysome that she couldn't remember what had happened with Arisa, but - though he hated to think such a thing - he thought that perhaps both the girls would be better off without Tohru stressing over it.

"Well, Miss Honda, do you think you'll be alright to go back to class?"

"Sure," The riceball perked up and slid off the cot, though she faltered when she realized standing was more dizzying than she thought it would be.

"Careful," Yuki caught her shoulders and helped her to balance herself. Tohru blushed - how noble it was of Yuki, to wait on her like that, and here he was, helping her even just to stand. The Prince Yuki fanclub must be green with envy for her.

The prince drew back quite hastily, though, and turned away, looking somehow...ashamed? Or was it dissappointed? _Angry_, perhaps? Tohru wanted to ask him if something was wrong, but her throat swallowed and somehow that drowned the urge effectively enough.

"Come on, Miss Honda," Yuki said a little dryly, and Tohru wished he'd be a little more warm about it. She could only guess that he was upset with her. "I'll walk you back to class." the riceball nodded shyly, and followed lethargically behind her stoic prince.

-/-/-

"Arisa," Hana's soft call somehow stopped the blonde running out of the building, and she stood where she was for a long time, unmoving, and waiting for Hana to finish.

"It was Kyo, wasn't it?" Arisa nodded slowly, not turning around. Hana frowned, and stepped quietly closer to her friend, taking her into a hug from behind and simply holding her for a moment, waiting for the blonde to calm down and melt into the warm embrace.

"Don't be discouraged too much, Arisa," her dark friend murmured softly, but confidantly, "Kyo's secrets are dark, but no darker than mine. You and Tohru accepted my secrets, and so I know you will accept his. Kyo, on the other hand, has been faced with rejection for his secrets; you have to understand that. All his life...he's been called a _monster_...all his life...he wasn't as lucky as I was. He never had you to accept him...until now."

Hana tightened her grip on Arisa as Arisa tried lackidazically to break free of her friend's embrace, though the blonde gave up rather quickly.

"But he can _tell_ me," Arisa groaned, "Why won't he tell me?"

"He's _afraid_, Arisa. He doesn't _know_." Hana let out a sigh, pulling her cheek to her friend's shoulder, burying her face in Arisa's silky blonde hair. "You have to stick with him, if you're going to _let_ him know."

"But there's so many secrets, Hana. I get so tired of secrets, of him not telling me things-"

"But he _will_. He just needs more time than most...he has more baggage than most. Give him pacience and give him time, Arisa. That's all he needs."

Arisa was quiet for a moment, and lifted her hand to brush lightly against Hana's clasped fingers, the first sign of reciprocation on her part.

"How do you know all this, Hana? You've never even had a boyfriend."

"No, but I do have a sense about me, Arisa." the psychic gently pulled out of the hug and guided Arisa to turn to face her. She waited there, looking into Arisa's eyes, and refusing to go on until Arisa looked strait back.

"Tell me you'll give him time and pacience. I haven't worked your part out yet entirely, but what I do know is that he needs you, just as surely as Yuki needs Tohru, and just as surely Akito needs me."

"But-"

"A relationship involves _compramise_, Arisa. You can deal with secrets just a little bit longer, and Kyo can learn to trust you. He will, and I promice, everything will turn out the better for it."

Arisa initiated another moment of silence, while her glazed eyes stared at Hana's motherly firm but gentle stare. Though Tohru offered such good advice, Hana truly was the wisest of the group. When she said she knew what she was talking about, she _knew_ what she was talking about.

With a loud sigh Arisa melted and slouched into a hug with Hana again, which the darker girl gladly returned. They embraced long enough that they both lost themselves. Neither of them cared about the pair of eyes that cast their gaze upon them, though Hana did take notice.

With a slight glare Hana lifted her gaze over Arisa's shoulder to the smoker leaning against the wall of the school, far enough away that he hadn't been caught until then, but close enough that he watched the conversation, and had likely heard every word. Even with the heavy glower of the electro-wave girl, he didn't faulter, and simply took another long drag of his cigarette as he gazed stoicly back.

With a calm sigh Hana pulled out of the hug and gently ushered Arisa back to the school doors, smiling sympathetically as Arisa finally cared enough to wipe the tearstains from her cheeks.

"You and Kyo will be alright?"

"I'll do my best to work things out," Arisa nodded meekly, smiling as best she could. "Thanks, Hana." Hana smiled and nodded, motioning to the doors by her companion.

"I did only what I had to do," she answered modestly, "Now you go on back to class; you'll be fine."

"What about-?"

"There's something else I have to attend to. I'll be in in just a bit. Tell sensei I had to stop by the restroom." Arisa pouted that a secret was being kept just after their talk about trust, but Hana smiled apologetically.

"Please Arisa, this is important. I promice it won't remain a secret forever. Sometimes timely secrets are needed to be kept." still pouting, Arisa finally accepted the response, and dissappeared into the building, practicing her extra-tough face before she got to the classroom.

-/-/-

"Well, look who's finally wandered home."

Kyo sluffed roughly against the wall just outside Shigure's study, catching the dog's attention; but the author gave a sigh when Kyo gave no response more than a low grunt as he banged his back into the wall, leaving nothing but silence in the wake.

"I'm not going to ask where you were last night, though I can venture a guess. How did Uotani take it?"

Kyo was quiet for another long moment, and Shigure put his book down and pushed up his glasses, sighing again.

"Take your time, Kyo, I'm here to listen."

It was the fact that Kyo couldn't tell if Shigure was trying to be nice or snark that annoyed him, and, being in the pessimistic mood he was just then, he pounded his fist rather roughly on the deck he sat on, expressing his frustration with Shigure's snarkiness. The author breathed yet another sigh, and went back to reading his book.

"I get the message, and I didn't mean to upset you, Kyo. Clearly something dreadful's happened, and I mean it when I say I'll listen."

It was a little eerily out of character for Shigure, but Kyo couldn't help being glad for it. If Shigure was his usual self and was cracking jokes left and right, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Go to Yuki? HELL no. He'd be stuck bearing this on his own. Like always. Ugh, of all the times for his Master to be on vacation. He could really use him now.

"So do you want to tell me about it, or would you rather I just keep you company?"

Well, keeping him company would be a little strange, considering Shigure sat inside at his desk, out of sight from where Kyo sat against the wall just outside the door on the deck. Still, he had no interest in upsetting Kyo just now, and he had a little sympathy in that he knew the boy wouldn't be coming to him if he could still go to Tohru. Even he was sad about that.

"...That damn Yankee called it off."

Surprisingly, Shigure's mood darkened. Not that Kyo could see the author's face, but Shigure had a brilliant enough aura that it was easy to simply feel when his mood was low - that is, when he didn't bother to hid it; like now.

Somehow, though, Kyo had expected the author to laugh and say _"I told you so."_ He was sure that's what Yuki would do. He _knew_ Akito would. But Shigure didn't, and that surprised him.

"I can see why you're upset, then," the dog offered up peaceably. "Want to share more?"

Kyo shook his head against the wall, but of course his mouth didn't stop.

"It's the fucking curse, Shigure. That's all there is to it. She kept wanting to see Akito, and I told her she shouldn't."

"Why?" Kyo had to pause to wet his lips. He had to do this carefully - he still couldn't have Shigure going to tattle that Uotani knew about the Zodiac. That would likely get her in to see Akito regardless of how much Kyo wanted her not to.

"_I_ just wasn't ready yet." he groaned, plopping his head roughly back against the wall. "Damnit, I was just getting used to this, like, yesterday, and now it's over. But I just _wasn't ready_. Akito would- ..._hurt_ her, and I just couldn't-."

Shigure kept his usual stoic smile on, and was quiet for a moment while he waited to let that sink in, and for a response to vegetate.

"You know, Kyo, I think he's already aware of you and

Uotani."

"What?" Kyo sat up breathlessly, and turned to put

his head through the door, to look Shigure in the eye

and try to understand how he meant. Had Hatori tattled on him too? God DAMN that seahorse.

"Well, Kagura came looking for you this morning."

"_Great_," Kyo grunted, and thrust his back against the wall agin, crossing his arms over his chest and slouching a bit more this time, out of pure frustration.

"Mm. Just wait. She said Akito wanted to see the two of you." Shigure paused, expecting another dramatic 'what?' but Kyo simply huffed on the other side of the wall. So, the author continued.

"Apparently something changed in Akito's heart, and he decided to give you and Kagura his _blessing_, but he'd like to talk with the two of you first."

"God _damnit_," Kyo muttered, sluffing his fist against the wall behind him, "He _does_ know."

"Mmhm, I'm glad I'm not the only one to draw that conclusion. I was afraid I was searching for too much drama."

"Well you know Akito the best out of all of us."

"Hm, I suppose I do." Shigure's smile widened a bit, though Kyo couldn't see it to react.

"So, what? You think I should tell Kagura about Uotani, right?" Kyo sighed, turning so that his shoulder was against the wall, and he was facing the door to the study. He still couldn't see Shigure, but the author caught the motion from the shadow on the deck, widening his smile a bit more. It was a terrible thing for him to be thinking, but Akito would be pleased.

"Oh, I dunno," Shigure shrugged, pushing that nasty, nasty thought out of his mind. The god really was starting to wear off a bit much on him, but in being the current father figure, he'd try to ignore that fact.

"It would be a little bit of an empty thing to do if Uotani no longer poses a conflict to Kagura...you thinking that you two aren't really over?"

Kyo was quiet for a long moment, and Shigure read his book, waiting paciently. One thing Kyo could say about Shigure, was that he never felt pressured to speak, or be quiet. For that reason, Kyo supposed, Shigure was a perfect confidant. The only problem was the dog never gave a _garentee_ of keeping it just between the two of them.

"...I _hope_ so."

"Well, then," Shigure smiled brightly, and somehow Kyo felt the motion from the other side of the wall. Admittedly, he smiled, too.

"I don't see the problem. You hope; you dream; you wish; ...you make happen. Go back to school - you've missed enough days as it is - talk to her, and tell her that you have every intention of taking her to see Akito when you think your relationship is ready to have that happen."

The dog paused for a moment, and his eyes moved to the wrist that hung loosely in the doorway; or, rather, the beads that rested on it.

"Personally, though, I would take those off, first. You _know_ Akito is going to mention them."

Kyo pulled his hand out of Shigure's sight and tinkered with the beads. Shigure was right; it was naive to think that Akito was the next step. Of course Akito would mention Kyo's other form - how could he not? Yes, Shigure was definitely right. Uotani had to accept his true form long before she'd be ready to deal with Akito.

The cat silently pushed himself to his feet, wiping off with his arm any tears that remained from his run home. Luckily most of them had dried by now. With a heavy sigh he stepped off the porch, but paused, glancing back towards Shigure's study, sure now that he could see the mutt.

"Shigure, thanks."

"My pleasure," the dog grinned playfully at Kyo, and the boy couldn't help breaking a smile again. That little conversation had gone _much_ better than he'd expected, and not only did that mean that he got along better with Shigure than he thought he did, but Shigure had also given him direction. Somehow, he _knew_ he could win Uotani back.

The cat wet his lips before turning and running back for school, though his heart pounded, dreading what rumors the onlookers had already spread; and most of all, dreading making that commitment, to tell Arisa about what he didn't want her to know. But he knew now he had to. She was at least _that_ valuable to him; he _had_ to let her know.

-/-/-

Hana turned back to the boy who still stood against the wall, though now his gaze had been turned to the clouds in the sky as though Hana weren't there at all.

The girl paid no mind and walked calmly towards him, demanding attention as she slipped the cigarette from his lips and held it tauntingly between their two faces. The boy looked mildly irritated, but rather more curious, as he glanced casually to the girl next to him. Hana simply lifted an eyebrow.

"Hello, Hatsuharu."

...-...-...-...-...-...-

:GASP: Just wait :3

Oh, and remember that COOKIE! Seriously, ponder on that, because I luff hearing your guys' theories :3 even if I do already have my mind made up xD


	13. Destiny

**to my faithful, ever-patient reviewers**My SINCEREST apologies, oh my faithful readers! I've wronged you, I have! ;.; :begs forgiveness: alas, Once I finally got my school affairs in order, DRAMA struck. Let's suffice it to say that falling for your friend's boyfriend is NOT a happy experience. Needless to say, my muse didn't like hanging around my mopey self, and thus writing's been difficult xP I've once again reached the end of my rope, and am in severe need of a buffer.

I don't know when my next update will be, though hopefully soon. The drama has subsides (somewhat) and will thus occupy much less of my time and mind.

Something I did do to get my muse back was go back and read through the story, and all I have to say is my GOODNESS things go a lot faster when reading than when writing o.O lol now I wish I'd put in more fluff scenes where nothing much had happened. xD but then again, I'm not good at those. hm. I also found a continuity issue, but it's small, and maybe you guys didn't catch it, so I shall never mention it again xD lol perhaps I can go back and fix it once my muse has fully returned.

I also apologize for the lack of specific reviewer replies, but it was all I could do to pull this much out of my butt, and I'm afraid I lacked the patience. Just know that your replies were read and appreaciated, and I shall go back to that happy individual attention next chapter, I promice .

**chapter summary**: Hana has a little chat with Haru, and perhaps discovers more than she'd like

...-...-...-...-...-...-

_Hana turned back to the boy who still stood against the wall, though now his gaze had been turned to the clouds in the sky as though Hana weren't there at all._

_The girl paid no mind and walked calmly towards him, demanding attention as she slipped the cigarette from his lips and held it tauntingly between their two faces. The boy looked mildly irritated, but rather more curious, as he glanced casually to the gir__l next to him. Hana simply lifted an eyebrow._

_"Hello, Hatsuharu."_

Haru gave no reply, and Hana found herself inspecting him for a long moment, while the cow simply drew up another cigarette, letting Hana keep hold of the one she had, but Hana quickly confinscated that one as well.

"Hey-!" somehow, Haru decided, that crossed the line, but Hana didn't give him time to complain.

"You really shouldn't smoke you know."

"Shigure smokes."

"He's an adult." at that, Haru glared.

"I don't see why the fuck you care," he grunted, crossing his arms and looking the other way. Hana frowned and remained silent for a moment, before shrugging and casting her glance towards the sky.

"I'm a part of the Souma family now, Hatsuharu. I have to care about all of you."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Haru turned his head back and glared at her, though that didn't pry her gaze from the sky.

"I'm a part of the Souma family _curse_ - I have to be _involved_ with all of you."

Haru would have to content himself with that. He grunted again, and turned to gaze back in the other direction.

"So when did you start smoking, Hatsuharu? I wouldn't normally worry except that you're skipping class to do so - and that means you either aren't concerned with your studies, or you're suddenly addicted enough you can't go through a whole class without taking a break. Which is it, Hatsuharu?"

The cow glowered, but remained silent.

"Well, which is it?"

"I _said_ why the FUCK do you even care!"

Hana gave no reply as she stood in a stoic glare off to the side, her gaze turned by the hand which had struck her.

When she bothered to lift her gaze to him again he was suddenly smirking, something cold like steel glinting in his eyes, while his fingers ostentaciously massaged the palm that had hit her. Odd, how both he and Akito chose to take out their frustration but striking her cheek. Somehow, she thought, she would've preferred a punch, even if it did hurt more.

"Oh?" Haru mused, his smirk widening and cocking to the side when Hana made no move to strike him back, "Playing hard to get, are we?"

Hana took a step back as Haru moved forward, his eyes changing a second time. Though even Hana's powers couldn't quite decipher Haru, the shades behind his eyes seemed to change as the boy went from dejection to rage to...was it _lust_?

A chill shot and meandered its way down her back at that thought, although she had heard murmurs that Hatsuharu was somewhat of a shameless flirt. Perhaps that's all this was: another depth-less attempt to get her off his back.

But no. Haru suddenly grabbed her shoulders and thrust her against the brick wall, his knee settling unnervingly between her legs, and his lips breaking Hana's stoic exterior and making her neck squirm to the side, somewhat disgusted by the feel of saliva against her ear.

"Get **away** from me," Hana glowered, a certain something changing in her own eyes as well. Haru stumbled back suddenly, looking a little dazed. The psychic had lost pacience with him, and decided to find what she was looking for through more rudimentary means. Since her run-in with Akito she'd been looking for excuses to excersize her telepathic powers, anyway. She'd been rather upset to realize he'd delved into her without her even realizing.

When she found what she believed she was looking for she added a little _umph_ to get her point across, sending Haru down to his knees, holding his head in momentary agony. When it came down to it, Hana was quite good at ensuing pain upon another. Not unlike a few Soumas she could think of; she truly did share part in their curse. Still, she felt no shame in it, much like Akito felt no shame in his. She simply used the tools she was given.

"You know, Hatsuharu," Hana said softly and crossly as she knealt down next to the cringing boy, "Perhaps there's a _reason_ he compared you to him."

"But I'm NOT!" Haru protested, digging his hands more roughly against his temples and hunching further over his knees. Hana calmly blinked for a moment, and shook her head, suddenly lulling her tone.

"You're right; you're not."

Somehow that statement registered especially clear, and Haru found that the sharp pang Hana had given him had receeded already, and her subtle words had enlightened him enough that for that moment, just as the headache no longer persisted, Yuki didn't hurt him, either.

Still, Haru looked confused. Just half a moment ago, Hana had sounded like she _agreed_ with Yuki's comparrison, but now she refuted it? Although he wouldn't be the one to say it, he couldn't quite grasp what she meant.

Sensing that much, and not really expecting Haru to completely understand, Hana nodded mildly, giving Haru a small - though admittedly, not very sincere - smile.

"You choose who you'll become, Hatsuharu. You have the potential to become like Akito - that's what Yuki saw - but you also have the potential to be your own person. You don't have to be that foolish cow."

It was a little unnerving that through one small talk with Akito, it seemed, Hanajima suddenly knew so much about him, but Haru couldn't help now feeling glad that she did. Somehow he'd lost sight of Yuki's words to him so long ago, of which she now reminded him.

"**_Are_**_ you that foolish cow, Hatsuharu?"_

"_No...No, I'm not! I'm not a foolish cow, I'm not!"_

"Then show it."

Haru blinked confoundedly at the hand the now-standing Hana held out to him. Blinking, he took it, and found himself being pulled to his feet by her grasp. He was still recovering from the fact that she'd interjected into his thought process, and hadn't come out of his daze until Hana pushed him towards the building and sounded her voice again.

"Go back to class; _learn_ something today. Skipping to grab a smoke isn't going to resolve anything between you and Yuki. Understand?"

Haru nodded dumbfoundedly, and meandered down the hall, not thinking to wonder why Hana remained behind. He was comparing her to Tohru; he couldn't help it. Though Tohru had a much warmer and more loving way to go about giving advice, somehow Hana _had_ helped. She'd opened his eyes - or reopened, rather - to something, and gave him hope. He couldn't help wondering, for whatever strange reason, if Tohru had done the same for Yuki, too. Perhaps, he thought, that's why he loved her.

-

Hana sighed deeply, sluffing herself against the wall and releasing her cordial smile once Hatsuharu had dissappeared into the school. She was glad that she was able to give Haru some direction, and that she could avert the injury Yuki had inflicted upon him, but she wondered if she was spurting out truly inspirational notions, or just coming up with lies.

She _had_ seen why Yuki had compared Haru to Akito, and though she refuted the comparrison in her words to the boy, she found herself second-guessing what she'd said. That Haru had the choice. In fact, as she reflected upon the conversation, she doubted that he had much choice at all. The Souma family curse, even this soon after she had become a part of it, occupied her thoughts, and all she could really grasp about it was that there were places in which people fall into; roles they must fill. If Haru was made that way, perhaps he was destined to be malicious. She didn't like it, but that seemed to be the way the curse worked. There was even a part of her herself, which she found to be restricted with her newfound loyalty to her god. Destiny truly was a nasty thing.

"Kyo-" Hana caught sight of the orange-haired boy running for the school and straitened herself up, putting on her usual stoic air - burying as deep she could this new, distraught form of her - as she called the cat over. Kyo looked puzzled at first, but caught that hanajima wanted to talk to him, and he ventured over obediantly, in some ways finding solice in that he'd found an excuse to stop running and catch his breath before he went in to see Arisa.

"I just wanted to tell you - you're hoping to talk to Arisa, yes? She was very upset. She's tired of being left out of the loop, incase she hadn't already made that clear to you, but I convinced her to let you wait a little longer. Still, even with my encouragement, she won't hold out forever. When are you planning on sheding those beads? They should come off to her soon."

Kyo had to take a long moment in silence, gazing flustered to the side. Hanajima had caught him rather by surprise, and it took him that moment to take in what she'd just said.

"I talked to Shigure, and he told me...more or less the same thing. I was going to offer to walk her through the woods after school, and get it over with then."

"Good." Content with what she'd gotten out of Kyo, the girl turned to head back into the school, but the cat stopped her, catching her a bit by surprise.

"Wait-" he said, reaching out to grab her arm, which furthered her range of surprise, "Saki...you...Just what did Akito say to you?"

The girl was silent for a moment gazing calmly at the boy. Her gaze fell absently to the side before she finally spoke.

"Nothing." Kyo drew his brow together in confusion, and started to speak, but Hana cut him off.

"If you must know, there is much information which I attained without Akito's knowledge - at the time. Unfortunately, he did the same to me."

"He-" Kyo was still a little confused. "What?"

Saki simply sighed and shrugged Kyo's grip from her arm to continue inside, pausing only briefly to make an aside over her shoulder;

"I had before been caught saying that electric signals are unable to read human thoughts; of this I was wrong. Either that, or..." a strenuous pause ensued as Hana took several more steps towards the door, leaving Kyo standing awkwardly, wondering if she'd grace his curiosity by at least finishing the sentense.

"Or I attained a new gift in the presense of our god."

With that the door closed behind her, and Kyo was left contemplating over the conversation, still unsure what to make of Hana being part of the curse. He wasn't sure he liked an outsider having a more intimate role than he was allowed.

...-...-...-...-...-

Yeah...sort of a heavy chapter I suppose .-.

You of course, get to hear my sincerest apologies again, because I feel terrible for having left you for...what's it been, three months? four:dies: just terrible. Hopefully shdfi will wonder back again soon xD


	14. Lovely Truth

**Reviewer Replies**

**ale**: oh no worries, Arisa and Kyo shall pop back up veeery soon. And I know it, that chap was a little out there. I suppose...I'm trying to work towards nudging Hana's talk with Akito in there somehow xD and yes, I shall try never to make you guys wait months ever again :P

**animelover**: lol okay, I don't feel as bad now xD although, you know, that would've just taken two more months and I'd've caught up with you xD;

Yeah, Hana does have a really big part in this :3 tee-hee, cause I think it's fun! xD haha actually, it's another facet of my rebellious side. Mayhaps I just haven't read enough, but in the fanfics I have read, both Hana and Uo are sorely underappreciated. In fact, in one of my favorites, the duo appeared in one piddly scene! D: (it was a good scene though DAMNIT!) lol so I'm of course not the least bit surprised that my story has thus tended to revolve around the both of them :3

and YAY! I got cookies!

**lightnightstrxu**: eep:hides from lighting: ... okay lame joke's done xD in any case yes yes, there are many things to be answered aren't there (even I have some questions! ah! xD) alas, I'm afraid this chapter won't answer all of them, but perhaps it can help with some :3 (or..maybe not very many at all xD)

**diekagomedie**: haha I must say, the username made me laugh xD :chuckles: in any case, I would like to thank you, because you caught me straying away from the character:eep: I knew it was bound to happen eventually, and you are right, she didn't like using her powers! that was my bad, cause I forgot all about that:eep again:

Nevertheless :hmm: I think I can make it work .-. lol I just shall have to keep that little detail in mind when writing the explanation. Still, thank you again for catching me! the last thign I want to do is skew the characters :P

**faol-sidhe**: lol wow, was the lack of Kyo/Arisa really THAT conspicuous? lol I'll be sure not to leave them out of any more chapters, cause you guys really catch on! xD; haha

and indeed, him taking off his beads is an exciting time, isn't it :wrings hands: lol I'm actually kinda nervous about writing it! ah! xD

**IddamSoyt**: glad you think so:D unfortunately, my wit has run out, and I can think of no more to say :explodes: however comments are always appreciated of course, so **thankyou!** :D yay

**Chapter summary**: Kyo and Uo have a little rondeivous. Perhaps something can finally come out of the closet :3

**Author comments**: hooray, I think shdfi finally returned! She smelled the cookies I bet:D hehe so I should start to run on schedule again. But I still feel terrible for making you guys wait! I shal absolutely positively do everything in my power to keep that from happening ever again! lol cause I missed writing too ;.;

and about the title to this chapter...I seriously considered putting 'True Love," but yeahh, that sounded lame. lol so I switched it around! yay :waves flag: haha and now I suddenly feel like going back and explaining some of the other chapter titles (incase you didn't get them the first time!) but at the same time...agh..need sleep xD (it's 1:30 am on a school night! what's WRONG with me!)

ya... enjoy :D

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Tohru froze as she entered the classroom, sensing more gazes upon her than she'd like. Yuki simply walked over to his seat, neither acknowledging the gazes which followed him, nor the fact that Tohru remained stiff by the door. Not only was there something terribly awkward about the classroom, but the riceball's eyes also drifted to a couple empty seats, and she found herself curisous - and a little worried - as to why Hana and Uo were missing. She could swear she remembered seeing them earlier this morning. She could also swear that someone belonged in that thrid empty desk, as well. Who-?

"Honda-"

"Ehh! YES!" Tohru bowed quickly as the teacher gently called her out of her daze. Mayu simply rolled her eyes lightly, trying not to come off as irritated, even though she was.

"If you're still not feeling well you can head back to the nurse's office..."

"Oh, n-no! I'm fine!" the riceball bowed again before scurrying over to her seat, her face red-hot with the blush of embarassment. She could still feel the gazes of her classmates, and though the teacher went on to continue teaching, she could hear dull murmors, that somehow she knew were about her.

She tossed a couple glances back to Yuki, somehow hoping that he could provide her with some sort of solice. Instead, he either didn't notice or didn't acknowledge her glances, and held about him a rather cold aura. Sighing, Tohru did her best to tune the class out, and opened her spiral to take some notes.

-/-/-

"Arisa," Hana sighed as she caught her companion sitting in the hallway, reading. The fish glanced up casually, raising her hand and grinning playfully in greeting. She'd done a good job of hiding her previous demeanor. For that Hana supposed she was glad.

"You aren't in class...?"

"Eh," Arisa shrugged, putting her book away. "Yesterday was real busy, you know, and I realized I forgot to do the homework, and..." she cut herself off when she saw Hana lightly roll her eyes. Only after Arisa started explaining did Hana realize she didn't actually want to hear the explanation.

"Alright," Hana sighed, "But I'm heading back." Arisa shrugged and whipped her book out again, while Hana started to pace down the hall. The dark-haired girl paused a couple paces away, glancing back to her friend, anticipating letting her know that Kyo was outside. But she stopped herself, a new feeling taking over. He'd come in and face Arisa when he was ready, and she decided she'd done enough meddling for the day, anyhow. She was, quite frankly, ready and willing to return to class, hoping to put some of this drama out of her mind, if only for a while.

-/-/-

Arisa glanced calmly to the side when her kitten easily sluffed himself down by the wall next to her. He gave her a meek, somewhat worried smile, while she returned the gesture with a bright grin.

"There you are," she said playfully, setting her book down next to her. "Listen, about this morning, I-"

"No- I mean, I'm sorry, but..would it be alright if I went first?" Arisa shrugged.

"If you like." Kyo nodded hesitantly, his fingers playing a little violently with the beads around his wrist. His mouth was going dry, absolutely dreading making the commitment to take his beads off; to show Aira that _monster_ which he had in him. But he had to. Both Hana and Shigure had told him so, and even a little, optimistic corner of himself knew that it was something he should do. He just...didn't like doing it. He didn't even like getting ready to.

Arisa watched patiently, finding it easy to see that Kyo was struggling to find his words. After her talk with Hana - and the time she'd taken to think over it - she'd cheered up quite a bit, and was willing to give him the time he needed.

"There's...something I have to show you, Uotani." he sighed, "It's pretty gross-"

"What, you think gross scares me?" they both chuckled a bit, though Kyo's chuckle was much more nervous. Sensing it, Arisa wrapped her hands carefully around his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Kyo melted a bit into the touch, smiling bitterly to himself.

"I just, had to add the disclaimer. I don't think you'll like it."

"I don't think I'll like Akito, either, but I still want to see him. I'm sure whatever you have to show me's no different."

Kyo rested his head against Arisa's, gazing absently at the lockers accross the hall. She did make a good point, and he supposed, as he thought on it, he was starting to believe that she really could accept him. He'd been thinking all along that as soon as she found out about his other form - or went to see Akito - it would be over, but as he sat there, enthralled in the calm closeness of himself and Arisa, he had this little kindling hope, that maybe it was possible for the relationship to go on. That thought made him very happy.

"Uotani-?"

"hm?"

"You want to...go now? Get it over with?" Arisa smiled, pushing herself instantly to her feet, and offering the cat a hand up.

"Sounds good to me."

Kyo nodded, putting on a worried smile as Arisa put away her book and followed him lazily down the hall. Part of him had wished he hadn't said that, because he'd been half-hoping she'd turn him down, but it was too late now. It really was a good thing that they were going to go and get this over with. If everything went okay - like he was finding he desperately hoped it would - then it would be a huge weight off his shoulders. He had to keep himself going, because having experienced it with Tohru, he knew things would be better - more comfortable - once they got through this.

"What are we going in the woods for?" Arisa looked around her at the trees and loose vegetation, insanely curious as to where Kyo was taking her. In all honesty, her mind was drawing a blank as to what she had to see.

"Nothing, really. It's just that- well, no one else can see."

"Ah, privacy. That makes sense I guess. ...You think we've gone far enough in though?" Arisa slowed her walk and glanced back in the direction of the school, which by now was obscured by the trees and brush between them. Kyo stopped when he realized Arisa had, and sighed as he looked around. He supposed she had a point.

"Here, there's a clearing over there," he motioned, not wanting to do this in a small space. He did need to give Arisa some room to breathe, afterall. She'd need it.

The blonde followed her carrottop a few more feet into the forest, until Kyo stopped, looking around at the small clearing he'd chosen, and then he glanced to Arisa.

"You..might want to step back."

Arisa nodded and obediantly stepped back a few paces. She still wanted to ask questions, but something kept her quiet, simply waiting in awe while she anticipated whatever it was she was about to see.

With a deep breath the cat grabbed hold of the beads on his hand and started to pull them off, but stopped dead short of releasing their effect. By now sweat dribbled down his forehead, and he breathed loudly and uneasily. His hand wouldn't move. _He couldn't do it_.

"...Kyo?"

The cat looked up, releasing his grip on his beads. The two just stared at eachother for a moment, before Kyo heaved a heavy sigh and slumped to the ground, prompting Arisa to walk over and kneel next to him.

"I'm sorry, Arisa," Kyo sighed, clunking his forehead against the girl's shoulder. "I can't do it."

"...If you tell me how, I'll help."

"The...mmh" a lump caught in Kyo's throat, keeping him from finishing the sentense. Telling her would be making just as much of a commitment as taking the beads off himself. It was just as undoable. Unfortunately - or peraps, miraculously - Arisa already knew the answer. She wasn't stupid, afterall.

"The bracelet, is that right?"

Kyo gasped as he felt the beads slipping off his fingers as Arisa pulled away. She pushed herself to her feet as she slid the bracelet off, and stumbled a few paces back, watching Kyo with a smidgeon of fear in her eyes as he pushed himself slowly into a crouch, loud groans escaping his lips while his hands wrapped tightly around his midriff.

For a moment Arisa thought he might be sick and started to walk towards him to help him up, but a sudden ferocious growl sent her stumbling back rather roughly into a tree. Her eyes widened in a dimly-lit horror as Kyo stood, his back haunched over and his complection growing sickly and callow.

Were her eyes playing trick on her? He was growing, and rips were forming in his shirt; his face was hardley human anymore. Before she knew what was happening Kyo wasn't Kyo at _all_ anymore - he was some putrid creature, unrecognizable except for the baggy khaki pants which miraculously still fit. Thank goodness for that.

"K-Kyo?"

The creature gave an arrid grunt as it sat itself down and turned its long neck to the side, held down enough one could venture a guess that it was ashamed of its form - and with good reason.

Arisa timidly pushed herself from the tree and took a step for the creature, pausing immediately after as though she expected some violent reaction by her closing in.

"You think I'm _disgusting_." Kyo's voice rang through in a murmer, something darker and monstrous fringing his tone. But it _was_ Kyo's voice, and Arisa supposed that was enough to convince her. For a moment there, she thought that somehow Kyo was gone and something else was in his place, but his voice finally drew clear that it was merely Kyo in another form. A disgusting, putrid form - Arisa couldn't deny it - but it was still _Kyo_, and that was all that mattered.

It wasn't as though Arisa was particularly one for perfume-smelling pretty-boys, anyway. If she thought about it, she supposed this new Kyo might be able to fit in her rough-and-tumble image rather well. Heck, he could've turned into a pink-bubble fairy, and from that she would've run away cursing.

"Well, you _are_ pretty grotesque, Kyo." Arisa wasn't going to lie, but she put a grin on her face, walking closer to her orangetop, devoid of orange as he was. The creature grunted loudly and started to stand, but Arisa finished the distance she had left between them and grabbed his arm, shaking her head gently.

"But you don't know me very well if you think grotesque'll scare me off."

Kyo simply gazed at Arisa as she smiled calmly back, admittedly coughing every now and then from the ungodly scent. Most of all he studied her eyes; his mother would never look at him directly, and that's part of how he knew she was truly afraid; Tohru had looked him in the eye, even if it was through tear-stains, and that's how he knew she was sincere.

Arisa looked him in the eye, with a smile accross her face, and that's how he knew that she loved him.

If her eyes weren't so bright and her grip so warm and firm, he'd think it was _too_ easy, but Arisa's sincerity kept such pessimistic thoughts from his head.

This _really_ _was_ happening - it really _was_ that easy. What had he been so afraid of? His mother hid from it; Akito ridiculed it; Tohru accepted it. He didn't think it could get any better, but it seemed Arisa _embraced_ this monstrocity.

THAT was certainly a reaction he'd never gotten.

All he could think to do was hug her. What else _could_ he do? He gently drew her arm in and took her into an embrace, but Arisa protested and managed to slip out of his grip, coughing a bit as she laughed and stumbled back.

"No hugs in this form, orangetop," she said, laughing and coughing all the way back to the tree. "Grotesque isn't going to scare me off, but that doesn't mean the smell can't suffocate me. _God_, you reek."

A strange sort of grumble sounded in the creatures throat, which seemed to be laughter. Not that you could tell from it's taut face, but Arisa was sure he was smiling, as was she. She could see why it'd been so hard for him to show her, and he was right, she didn't really like it, but what the heck? Just so long as she didn't have to smell it 24/7, she figured she didn't care. Wasn't that much worse than him having a kitten alter-ego as well.

"You, um, want your bracelet back?" Kyo started to reach for it as she held it out to him, but then he paused, a smile crossing his face as he saw his hand was normal, his stench gone.

"You really didn't mind, Arisa..." he remarked in half disbelief, while his smiling face inspected his arm, as though suspicious that it was actually his.

"_Mind_ is a stretch," Arisa laughed, walking over to slide the bracelet on him, since his mind seemed too caught up in thought to do the chore himself. "I can't say I'd look forward to taking that thing off. Cause that was one _foul_ stentch you had going there." she laughed again and gave him a kiss on the cheek, drawing a rather crimson blush from the boy.

"You know," he said, softly touching where Arisa's lips had graced him, "You took it even better than Tohru did. Alot better. You sure...you're not like bottling anything up about this, are you?"

"Orangetop," Arisa smirked, though her tone was quite serious, "I told you, if you think grotesque'll scare me off, then you don't know me very well. So you've got this freaky monster thing you change into. It'll take me a while to actually get a grasp on the fact that all this crazy curse shit is real, but hey, so long as I don't have to smell the fumes coming off that thing, I'm fine. I don't give a damn what you hide in your closet; I just want to know what's there, and guess what? Now I do, so I'm good, alright?"

"Yeah," Kyo smiled again, still having to mentally pinch himself to make him believe this was actually happening. "Yeah, alright."

"You know," Arisa sighed, scratching her head as she glanced at the scraps of Kyo's shirt strewn about, "If I'd've known I'd've brought you a spare shirt - or made sure you brought one."

"Yeah, I guess if I'd've been looking ahead.. But you don't exactly plan things like that, you know? Something this big...damn, Arisa, you make this sound like nothing."

"Well it is. ...I mean, I get why you'd be way paranoid to show me something like that, but you make it sound like a bigger deal than in is. Hell," she grinned, "in some ways, it's kinda cool. How many girls on this planet you think gotta boyfriend that turns into a monster at will?"

"It's not exactly at will..."

"Whenever he takes off a bracelet, same difference. What's the deal with that thing, anyways?"

Kyo shrugged, bringing the bracelet up to inspect. "I dunno," she sighed, "They say it's made of bone...and the red ones are died with blood, but I don't buy it. It's just a charm to keep me in human form, rather than reverting back to my true form."

"Now, why would you call that thing your _true_ form? Seems to me like this is your _true_ form - it's certainly the one you're most comfortable in, en't it?"

"I guess, it's just that-"

"So call this one your _true_ form. The cat and that...thing - what do you _call _it-?"

"_Monster_." At that, Kyo grew bitter and tossed a spit to the side, but Arisa paid no mind, shrugged, and continued on.

"Well, those are just your _other_ forms. But you've been amiss if you think your natural element is the _monster_." Kyo just sighed and sluffed himself down onto the grass.

"But it _is_ my true form, Uotani. I like this one best because it's the form that most people can accept. It's not that I _like_ my true form, but...I'm possesed by the vengeful spirit of the cat, right? It- it's part of _who I am_. If you're going to keep on having me, you have to know I come as a package, I-"

"Kyo," Arisa slid down onto the grass next to him, nuzzled herself up against his shoulder, and her fingers gently drew his face to look her in the eye. She was calm, happy, and most of all sincere.

"I _accept _**_all_** of you. That includes the little kitty, and that includes the freaky monster thing. Don ever, _ever_ worry that I reject any part of it. Because you know what, that would just be callous and shallow. I don't have to _like_ a part of you to _accept_ it. I'm sure along the way you'll find quirks about me that tick you off-"

"Screw that, I already have."

"Exactly. But you still love me, don't you?"

Kyo reddened, quite a bit, being asked that question. Seeing his worried expression, Arisa grew a little worried herself. She knew he hadn't been sure at the beginning of this, going into this whole mess, but she thought that by now-

"Yeah," the air thinned and tension ceased as both teens let out a content sigh. "Yeah, I do. Arisa Uotani, I love you."

Arisa went the pinkest Kyo had seen her, while she suprised him - _quite_ a bit - as she smiled, straitened her posture, gently craned her neck, and brought her lips to meet his. The pecks on the cheek he'd gotten used to, and he supposed come to enjoy, but _ this - _this was magical.

He gently closed his eyes, bringing his hand up to her cheek as she rested hers on his shoulder, bringing them closer to eachother.

After a moment Arisa gently pulled out of the kiss, bringing both their eyes open to look into eachother's.

"Well, Kyo Souma," the fish smiled, ringing a playful air of sarcasm, which brought a smile to Kyo's lips as well. "I love you too."

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

AWEEE:explodes:

That's the best damn love scenes I've ever written.

Though that's not saying much (this is by far the most romantic story I've ever written xD haha)

So definitely tell me how this was! I don't read too many romance scenes either, so I'm not sure how well I did. I hope I did Kyo and Uo justice:o


	15. Recollection

So, yes, Emily is a busy, lazy bastard. I give up on trying to comfort you as far as an update schedule goes, because clearly the adrenaline that came with starting this story is wearing off. I still have every intention of finishing it, but numerous other projects are arising (such as five webcomics to illustrate! holy crap!) and I fear this can't be priority number one. I hope that you'll bear with me and check in every so often though, as the time will come when this is completed. I just don't plan to return to weekly update schedules again anytime soon, as much as it pains me to murmur such things. I so miss last summer, when staying up til 5 in the morning to write on my story was a daily activity xD

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Oh, **darn**, we've managed to miss class." Arisa playfully chided as the couple exited the woods to the sight of students scouring the grounds, socializing as they mounted their cars and started their walks home.

"Guess you get one more day to finish your homework then, eh?" Arisa playfully socked Kyo on the shoulder while the orangetop chuckled, finding himself in a rather good mood after what had come to pass.

"You can thank me later, Yankee."

"Yeah, whatever." Arisa playfully rolled her eyes, socking Kyo on the shoulder again, this time making him wince, though it didn't diminish his grin. "How about we go to the arcade and see who comes out indebted to who?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll race you there, too."

"Oh, you're on, Yankee!"

"Heh." the blonde pulled a foot back, settling it into a patch of grass behind her, ready to take off in the direction of the arcade. Kyo grinned, high with the promise of competition, and followed suit.

"Ready," Arisa started the count-off, "Set-" and took off, leaving Kyo anticipating the third beat.

"HEY!" Kyo stumbled out of surprise, a semblance of frustration reddening his face. Arisa simply glanced over her shoulder and tossed him a wink, reddening the orangetop further, albeit motivating him to speed up. "THAT IS THE LAMEST, CHEAP-ASS TRICK IN THE BOOK, YANKEE!"

"Then you should've seen it coming, orangetop." Arisa grinned as she kept running, amused at every trip-up the cat made. She had to admit, though, he was catching up.

-/-/-

"So, I meant to thank you for walking me back from the nurse's office, Yuki."

"It was no trouble," Yuki smiled calmly to Tohru, though a little distantly, as she approached him after class, looking a little flushed over something.

"I also wanted to thank you for watching over me while I was in there. You missed class for that, you could've-"

"It's all right, Miss Honda. We didn't miss anything important." Tohru bowed nonetheless, intent on expressing her full gratitude.

"Well, thank you anyway, Yuki. It meant a lot to me." Yuki flushed at that, and Tohru, as was her nature, immediately recoiled on the comment.

"OH! But now I'm making you uncomfortable!" she bowed hastily, blushing rather profusely herself, "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't've-"

"It really was no trouble, Tohru. Really, don't worry about it. And...I'm glad I made you feel better."

Tohru stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to say. Yuki graciously gave her a more sincere smile, though a nervous hand rose to rub at the back of his neck.

"Would it be all right if I walked you home, Miss Honda?" Flushed and embarrassed once again, Tohru gave another hasty bow.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't mind at all, but I wouldn't want to cause any trouble-"

"No, it wouldn't be any trouble at all."

"Well- then- that is- um... thank you."

Tohru bowed again, this time coming back up with a bright smile. Yuki smiled shyly as well, unsure if what he was doing was smart. He knew if Akito found out how often he'd interacted with Tohru today he'd be furious, but he supposed he didn't particularly care about Akito's wrath, not now. He wasn't doing anything Akito had said specifically not to do, so what could Akito truly do about it? Yell at him and make him feel miserable as always, but, Yuki supposed, he'd find a way to do that anyhow. At least this way he could still grace himself with the warm presence of Tohru. Even if she did care more about someone else.

"Oh, Arisa-" Tohru waved to her blonde-haired friend as she saw her running past.

"Hey Tohru," Arisa greeted briefly, though she quickly spat out, "can't talk now," as she tossed her friend a wink and skidded by. A whirr of orange and khaki whisked past as well, and Tohru stood blinking for a moment, pondering over the familiarity.

"Who was that?" Tohru turned around to Yuki, blinking in confusion.

"Who?" Yuki, though he had caught Arisa and Kyo running past, wasn't sure who Tohru was talking about.

"That orange-haired boy, chasing Arisa. I thought you might know him?"

Yuki matched Tohru's confused glance, and they both blinked oddly at each other, neither one fully comprehending the situation, both for very different reasons. Yuki finally let out a sigh. Whatever was odd about Tohru, he'd go to talk to Hatori about it this evening. Until then, he supposed he'd indulge in whatever interesting antics Tohru's memory happened to take.

"Oh, yes," he nodded, "That was my cousin, Kyo."

"Oh that's right!" Tohru cheerfully brightened up, "He's your cousin that likes cats! How could I forget?" Yuki shrugged in response to her question - however rhetorical it was - and the two started their walk, putting behind them the encounter with Arisa and Kyo. At least, _Yuki_ had been planning on it.

"I wonder how Arisa knows your cousin? I hope she didn't get in a fight and that's why he's chasing her."

"I'm sure they're just playing games."

"I hope so."

"...Me too."

-/-/-

"Ah, Yuki, welcome home," Shigure greeted Yuki with a bright smile as the teen appeared in the doorway to his study. "I see Kyo isn't with you. Where's our kitten meandered off to, I wonder?"

"I'm not sure...he was chasing after Arisa; I only saw them for a few seconds."

"Ah, and how is the young couple getting along?"

"Well..." Yuki hesitated, wondering how much he should divulge to the dog, but as he watched Shigure he caught a glimmer in the author's eye - one that said that he already knew, and was merely fishing to find out what Yuki wasn't sure of. Yuki decided he'd play along.

"Earlier today, I wasn't sure. Miss Uotani broke down... and I think it might've been because of Kyo. But they both looked relatively happy this afternoon."

"Well, if you _must_ know," Shigure chimed playfully, "Kyo and Arisa did have a little bout - I believe because Arisa wanted to see Akito, but Kyo wasn't ready for that yet. So, I told him an alternative-"

"And that would be what?"

"Show Arisa his true form first. I think his true form was what was keeping him from wanting to see Akito, anyhow. You know as well as Kyo that Akito would bring that up."

"You're right," Yuki sighed, "But of course, if he did show her, then she knows about the curse, and she'll have to see Akito anyway."

"Well," Shigure shrugged, "Perhaps he was just more comfortable with this order. Of course, I don't presume to know that Kyo's done anything of the sort yet; he might've just talked Arisa into waiting a little bit longer."

Yuki simply gave a shrug and started to walk out of the room, content with his debriefing session with Shigure.

"And where are you off to?" Shigure investigated playfully, sensing easily that Yuki had something else on his mind. The teen sighed, not particularly wanting to talk to Shigure about this aspect of his day.

"I need to call Hatori about something." He said frankly, and before Shigure had a chance to inquire further, he walked away.

-

"Hello, Hatori? It's Yuki." An audible sigh sounded on the other side of the phone before Hatori's voice answered.

"Hello Yuki. Do you need something?"

"I needed...to talk to you about Miss Honda. She's ...remembering things."

There was a pause on the other line, and then the rustling sound of paper, and the clicking of a pen.

"What sort of things has she remembered?" Hatori asked eagerly, a bit of an edge to his voice.

"Well, it's not much, really. She saw Kyo this morning, and asked me who it was. I told her he was my cousin, Kyo, and she immediately thought of cats...and she knew I didn't like him. She also..I don't know what happened, but during class she... she called out Kyo's name, out of no where, and then blacked out. She saw Kyo again after school, and asked me who he was again, and I answered, with the same result. Hatori, I don't...understand what's going on here. Has this happened before?"

There was another pause on the line, though there were the muted sounds of a pen scratching against paper, and Yuki could only assume Hatori was taking notes.

"No," came the stoic answer. "I'll have to talk to Akito about this."

"All right," Yuki nodded humbly, hoping this didn't mean he or Tohru had to go in to see Akito again. He'd had enough of his god for quite a while yesterday.

-/-/-

_The Souma estate was very cold and dreary. I could tell from the moment Megu and I stepped out of the car that it wasn't going to be a very pleasant visit. Of course, the way Tohru had fretted, I did have that feeling all along, but it was only reinforced at the sight of the dreary abode._

Momiji greeted us at the door. It was the first time I'd seen the boy outside of school. I was a little uncomfortable, to tell the truth. Going to a strange place with Shigure, being at the home of a child from school whom I barely knew, and all devoid of Tohru's company made the scenery feel very surreal. And all this before Megu and I even set foot inside the house. My stomach lurched the way it sometimes does when I feel something big is about to happen. I can't say I was afraid, though. I'm one that respects destiny. I was prepared to embrace whatever path I'd fallen onto.

Part of me felt that I was more or less destined to find out about the Souma family curse sooner or later...if only to lead me to this point, to meet whatever it was that I was about to face. I can't even begin to describe the plethora of thoughts racing through my mind, pondering over what I'd encounter in the head of the Souma family.

Momiji lead us - Megu and Shigure and me - down several hallways, to a door where Hatori waiting outside. He - Hatori - said he'd explained the situation to Akito and that he was awaiting our company inside. Momiji, though he protested, was shooed away, while the rest of us filed into the dark and dreary room.

My first thought when I sat down on the cold wooden floor was that the room was very lonely. It was dark; the only illumination was provided by the sunlight streaming through a small window on the far side of the room, where there knelt a figure silhouetted against the window's light. He turned only when Hatori called out his name and introduced Megumi and me.

I...perceived something there, reveling in the presence of the Souma head-of-family. Though not entirely wise on my part, I voiced my perception.

Akito, I could tell instantly, was very similar to myself. Against my better judgment I said outright, that he and I shared a similar curse. It may look very different to an outsider - Tohru certainly would never have guessed it - but there sitting in that room, looking this young man in the eye, I couldn't ignore the profound similarity...or perhaps I could call it an intense familiarity. I can't say I've ever felt quite that way before. There are few people in this world whom I feel acquainted with so immediately. That's not to say that I knew him, but there was a great deal about him which I could discern...a great deal more than usual, although it seems ironic that despite my abnormal perceptiveness, he still remains the most enigmatic individual I've ever come across. After only one short hour I perceived things about him that his own family isn't privy to hear, yet I still can't even attempt to know what to make of him. All I can say for sure is that he's a very sick man, taking into account both meanings of the word.

When I so unwisely shared my perception that Akito and I had something in common, I knew quickly enough that it shouldn't have been said. Akito immediately grew cold - colder than he had been - and glared at me instead of inspecting as he had been. He grew angry that I was so arrogant as to assume I knew anything about him or his curse. A childish reaction, but intimidating nonetheless, because this child had a rather great power. If I was right about him and his curse - if his powers were similar to mine - then there was a good chance I could have breathed my last breath had Akito willed it so.

My first desire to refer to the man as sick came about only a few moments after our first exchange of words. Megumi apologized for my presumptuousness; he always was the more humble of us. He made the observation that Akito's curse was much more painful, which I imagine is precisely what he wanted to hear. Aside from being sick and mildly sadistic, he was one pathetic pity-party as well, which grew old rather fast.

Upon hearing my brother's humble words, Akito's demeanor changed dramatically again. I can't begin to describe the sick and twisted malice of the sly grin he groped my brother with. What's worse is that what began as a violating gaze grew to a stroke on the cheek; a kiss on the ear. I feel my subsequent lapse in humility was more or less justified, though Megumi has since let me know that he disapproved. Megumi...didn't understand what was happening though. He doesn't understand why I grew protective. Megumi will understand later in life. He may be impressively intuitive and intelligent, but there are some topics which he still approaches as a naïve child, and this was one of them. He pretended like he understood, but he couldn't possibly. He said that it didn't bother him, that Akito's hand stroked his face so disgustingly. He also said that he knew very well what could happen if he's ever in the same room alone with Akito - because he knows I dread the day - and he said that it wouldn't bother him.

Regardless, I told Akito not to touch my brother. His face turned cold again, and he glared directly into my eyes. A moment of silence passed before Akito told Hatori and Shigure to leave. They hesitated, but with one more sharp bark from Akito they both up and left without a word, which left me and Akito glaring at each other, his hand still tauntingly held under Megumi's chin.

I don't know how long we sat there sizing each other up, but a lot happened in that moment of which I think Megumi is not aware; not in full, at least. I did...something, which I thought wasn't possible, not with my nature of perception. It was too short a time for me to realize in that moment what it was that I was doing, though; only when I had time to reflect on it today did I realize what it was that I'd done. But at the time, no sooner did I perceive Akito telling someone or something to shut up, than there was a stroke against my own cheek and sickly hot breath by my ear. He asked me if I wanted to repeat myself. That time I bit my tongue, but his hand trailed down my neck, and I lacked the fortitude to let it continue further, as I feared it might. I feel very sorry for the Souma family. I could barely stand the man for an hour, and among other things I perceived that Akito could be even more intimate with family members than he was behaving with us, which I must admit is a disturbing thought.

When I swatted his hand away, he grew cold yet again. I found it a little annoying how bipolar he seemed to be. He stood and glowered at me for a moment, and after that moment his hand pulled back sharply, and pained my cheek. I won't lie; he hit hard. I'm sure he wanted me to cry out, which is precisely why I remained silent. I might've reached up to calm the sting had the issue of pride not been involved.

Megumi was once again the tactful one, and I was surprised to see that he was experiencing some of the abnormal perception that I was.

He asked Akito why he staid in this dark and dreary room so much. That is to say, one could probably make that assumption just from the feel of the room, but I know my brother to be too polite to voice assumptions. He knew that Akito rarely left this room, and upon Megumi's observation, I was able to discern why.

I wasn't positive, but I'm much more one or stipulation than Megumi is, and so I voiced my thoughts despite their uncertainty: that Akito and I were similar in our powers and their obstacles, and that he dwelled in this dark and dreary - but most importantly, secluded - room in order to avoid the voices which he had yet to control.

Akito of course grew angry that I presumed to know about him, or even suggested that I might have some idea, but Megumi was starting to break his polite exterior and give in to his inquiry. He spoke up, and asked Akito why he had yet to take control of his powers.

Akito proceeded to chastise us again, claiming that we knew nothing of his curse. At long last, however, he was starting to say a little bit of why. He pointed out that Megumi and I share our burdens with each other, and have parents and friends to fall back on, which I suppose is true, but it isn't as though my powers are a burden to Tohru. I hope they're not. And I hope Tohru may forgive me for this, but I told Akito...that she was capable of taking loneliness away. I can't say for sure why I let it come out of my mouth. If Akito took my advice it would only put Tohru in danger, or at least discomfort, and if he didn't then there was no point in saying it. But I did, and for some reason that upset him more than anything that had been said prior. And...I will admit that the tone I used with him earlier in our conversation was much ruder and meant to be much more disconcerting than the tone I used to suggest he let Tohru carry his burden. I was suddenly sincere in that moment as the thought came to mind, and yet Akito reacted as though it was the most despicable treatury he'd ever come across.

He glared at me for a moment, refusing to comment on my mention of Tohru. After a long stuffy silence he called for Hatori, who came to usher us out of the room. 

Akito called Shigure to stay behind us for a moment and talk to him privately, while Hatori lead us out to the car. I didn't think much of it then - I didn't know what it was about, then - but it pains me to say that I've since perceived his conversation. Akito is planning to erase Tohru's memories, and I fear it is because of me. I can't be sure if it's what I said or what I thought, but my visit with Akito triggered the decision, What's worse is that I believe this perception has come to me of Akito's own will. I've made several perceptions throughout the course of the day. Some of them came about by talking with Megumi, but many of them have come about from reverence on my bed where I write, and I feel Akito is sending them to me, though for what reason I can't be sure. Considering the nature of most of what I perceive, however, I believe he is trying to disconcert me; I believe he hopes to overwhelm me and squelch what inquiry I have. I fear he may be doing the same to Megumi, although he hasn't said anything about it yet.

I don't know what I should be doing now. I've reflected for much of the day, trying to make sense of the chaotic information swelling in my mind; the complicated electric signals spinning their intricate web. And out of that what I am aware of most is that the web ties Akito and me together. There is some connection, however much I hate to believe it, and I must find out what it is. I do not look forward to speaking with him again, but he wishes to see Megumi and me again next week - something he allowed me to perceive - and I get the feeling this may be a common occurrence, although I'm surprised; I was sure he disliked the visit even moreso than I did. But I suppose there may be some things he is curious about of me as well, and when it comes down to it, I believe we may be trying to reach the same end. I just have yet to know what that end is.

Impeccable timing. I feel Arisa's electric signals draw near as the doorbell rings. I have guests to speak to now, for someone is with her - a Souma; I can only assume Kyo. So I end this entry, and I shall reflect on this day more at a later time.

-

Hana smiled bitterly as she re-read her entry from the morning before. So much had transpired even since then - in her mind, and in conversations and observations. She found it interesting how naive she'd been just a few days ago.

_I'm one that respects destiny_.

Hana mocked herself as she rolled the line through her head, reveling in the irony. That was a difficult thing to believe she ever thought, now that she knew what destiny was, or had become at least more aware of its true nature. She still had to obey it, but respect was far too reverent to describe her attitude towards it. That was like saying she respected Akito. In truth, she was almost at a loss as to how the words had spilled from her own hand.

Sighing, she shook her head, preparing to start a new entry for the day.

_-_

_  
Angels. That's what Megumi called us. I don't know if it's correct or not, but it feels the most accurate theory we've come up with so far-_

-

"Saki, you have a visitor!"

Hana sat up abruptly, shutting her diary away and tucking it behind the fold in the wall by the bed, where it would stay hidden from prying eyes. That is, all but Akito's.

Ever since she arrived home from the Souma estate the other day she felt a presence inside her head. It almost felt like the voices coming back to her, like she was losing control, but this voice was singular, and sensical, and always bore a distinct message. And it remained silent often, but she still felt it there, prying at her every movement, like she didn't have a moment of privacy. It had read her diary entry; it had listened in on her and Megu's conversation with Arisa and Kyo the other day; it had told her of Tohru's memory loss, so that she was the first non-Souma to know.

She'd spent much of the day after her visit trying to discover if she could shift the voice to Akito's head, so that he felt her presence rather than the other way around, but to no avail. That is, she may have succeeded, but she couldn't know, because a presence still nipped away at the back of her mind, and she felt no change. She didn't like the fact that Akito seemed to be in control. Then again, that fact was one which helped her give in to Megumi's angel theory - if Saki was destined to be a servant of Akito, it would only follow that Akito was in control of whatever sort of strange link he'd set up. She didn't like it, but it seemed she was going to have to accept it.

"Hanajima..." Saki blinked up to her door as it was slid open, a tame, pale-looking Haru shyly stepping through the door.

"Saki would be fine, Haru."

The cow blinked, suddenly feeling invited to sit down, so he did so. Something was cold about Saki, and yet welcoming at the same time. Hana softly moved off the bed to sit on the floor across from him, while he still seemed to be fumbling dumbly over the name.

"Can I...call you Hana?"

Only Tohru and Arisa called her Hana. She wasn't sure she'd like Haru referring to her the same way. Then again, she reminded herself - she called him Haru, rather than adding on the full Hatsu like she should. So she supposed she could award him some level of familiarity as well.

She nodded, though very small. She wouldn't like it, hearing Torhu's nickname coming out of Haru's mouth, but she'd allow it, if that's how he preferred to address her. It was better than a stiff-necked ëHanajima.' After all, she was family now. Or at least, with Haru's head-of-family pounding so thickly at the back of her mind, it sure felt like it.

"Hana." Haru nodded softly, affirming that he had permission to use the name.

"You came to visit," Hana stated bluntly, trying not to be too glad or too miffed about it. Frankly, she wasn't sure what her reaction was, and so she didn't show any. "Why?"

"To apologize." Haru said, arching his back forward in the best bow he could manage while sitting down. "I was rude to you earlier...when you helped me."

"You weren't yourself, Haru." Hana said graciously, though inside she was smirking, glad that he realized he needed to apologize for his..._forwardness_ earlier.

"I _was_ myself." Haru murmured frankly. "That is me - Black Haru - he's just..less inclined to be polite. But it's not like someone else taking over; it's just me when I let my emotions run too high. If it wasn't me, then I'd have no blame and an apology from me would mean nothing, right?"

Hana nodded slowly, understanding what he meant.

"I also..wanted to thank you. I didn't thank you properly this morning, but you deserve to be thanked. You didn't need to seek me out or say the right things, but you did."

"As I said," Hana nodded stoically, "The curse dictated that I get involved."

Haru frowned mildly. He could understand that she was just trying to be modest, but it came off as sounding cold - as though she wouldn't've cared if there wasn't some supernatural force making contact between them compulsory. He didn't like to think that Hana said those things to him by anything other than her own free will. If she only did it because she had to...it made the things she said mean a lot less.

"Haru..." Hana said softly, her voice much more pliable than usual. There was real emotion in it, the way she whispered his name, and that perked his attention.

"Just because...the curse is what has crossed our fates, doesn't mean that our fates mean nothing. If I hadn't...caused a stir at my previous school, I wouldn't have met Tohru. But does that discount my friendship with her? I only meant that my conversation with you wasn't derived of any great sweep of charity; had there been another student standing there skipping class for a smoke, I don't think I would have ventured over. So I don't think I deserve a thank-you, because my reasons weren't altruistic. Although, I am glad that I helped you well enough to make you believe I deserved one."

"You cheered me up, Saki." Haru said, with a little bit of an aggressive edge to his voice. "That alone deserves a thank-you, no matter your reasons for doing it."

Hana smiled bitterly, unsure what to make of that. Her mind told her that reason would still stand to deny her right to Haru's gratitude, but he clearly needed to express it, so she wouldn't discuss it further.

"I thank you for your gratitude, then." she bowed, "And that way, we can call it even."

"No." Haru shook his head, "You thanking me would put me into debt again. Because I owe you gratitude from this morning, and I also owe you shame. I treated you without respect, and yet you still found constructive things to say. You were altruistic, Saki. You just have your reasons for believing you weren't."

Hana tilted her head and blinked, a little confused by Haru's last comment. She couldn't help feeling he was implying something, but she couldn't quite make it out. Odd, she thought; she was usually the one making cryptic remarks. She could only find one thing to bring up in response.

"I thought you were wanting to call me Hana." she said softly. For someone who had seemed hesitant a moment ago to be so familiar as to call her by her first name, he seemed to do well to use that name twice in just the past few moments.

"I changed my mind." Haru said calmly, though Hana caught his smile curling, and...was his skin gaining color?  
"I can go back to Hana, though..." he said, casting his glance to one of the walls. "If that would make you more comfortable."

"No." Hana shook her head casually. "Saki is fine. I said so when you first came in, and it hasn't changed since then."

"Right." Haru nodded into a thick silence. Both teens lingered on the edge of conversation, feeling that something else should be said, but neither could come up with what it was.

"I've taken enough of your time." Haru finally pushed himself to his feet. Hana stood up as well.

"It's fine." she countered, "I'm glad to talk anytime, Hatsuharu."

Haru looked over his shoulder and smiled at that. Again, the two lingered, anticipation of something unknown hanging about the air. At last Haru simply turned and walked out the door. Hana followed silently after, all the way outside to her porch. Through the walk down the stairs and past the hall, they said nothing - almost didn't even acknowledge eachother's presence - and when Hana lingered on the porch watching Haru walk casually down the driveway, she wondered for a moment if he'd even realized she'd followed him out.

But he turned once he reached the sidewalk, simply smiling back at her. Saki bowed her head, acknowledging his silent good-bye, and then he turned and walked peacefully down the street.

Hana retreated back into her house, up into her room. She closed the door behind her and lingered there, thinking about what had come to pass in the past several minutes. She wasn't even sure of what half of it was, but a smile crossed her lips, and she found herself hoping that Haru would come to visit again tomorrow.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

:grin: hooray! Hana's visit with Akito is finally unveiled! lol I wrote so many pilot scenes trying to get that out - Hana and Megu reminiscing about the event together - Haru asking her about the event when he came to apologize. Somehow Hana's diary entry seemed to make the most coherent sense and felt the least forced, so I went with that. lol it's made me want to go back and write out entries about _everything_ Hana's experienced from her own eyes, though, but I fear that would exclude the title characters far too much xD so it should be only a special-case event, such as when I need to reveal a plotline which other characters can't accurately describe.


	16. Warmth

**Reviewer Replies:**

So, I've seen more than a few readers asking the question. I figure it's about time I regress and give an answer.

WILL Hana and Haru become an item?  
The truth? You really, REALLY want the truth?

Unfortunately, I don't know the truth xD;

You'll just have to watch and see, just like myself. :chuckle: my fingers do strange and terrible things. In truth, my brain rarely controls them. I just let them fly, and somehow a 16-chapter masterpiece comes of it (erm, don't mind the lack of modesty. In comparison to some of my other stories, this is the work of gods xD)

So...yes. I'm afraid that's all I have to say on that. I will mention, though, that I'm considering another love interest for Hana as well, but I shan't utter the name. Or drop hints. For that one, you're on your own :3 so ponder to your heart's content. At least until interaction with them takes off, I utter not another word on the subject x3

**Chapter Summary:** You guys have been asking for more Arisa and Kyo, so you got it. This had damn well better please some of you at least a bit :chuckle: it made me happy. Some drama with Tohru, though, of course. Just what is going on inside our little riceball's head?

**Author Comments:**

All praise Canadia :bows and worships: I've got like two chapters worth of smut just from the car rides to and from :D

Also, I feel like sharing a story (because goodness knows I love doing that :3) Proof that not everyone on the internet is a creepy stalker : )

I've a message board friend I've been corresponding to for 7 years (since I was NINE, people! That's a long time! xD) and I finally got to meet her this summer. Best experience of my life (er..of the summer, at least)

Saw Lord of the Rings: The Musical, too. Wow, that was freaking awesome. I can't believe that fit it into like 3 hours though xD I am awed, to say the least.

And then, of course, temperature. I hear Missouri had a heat wave while I was gone. Not that Canada didn't, but the fact remains that it was cooler up North than down South, if only by 2 degrees :P

So, yes. Everyone pay your dues to Canada, because had I lingered in Missouri much longer, I'm fairly certain that shdfi would've died. She liked Canada muchly, and likewise has returned to pump out some more stuffs. Check back again not this coming Wednesday, but the Wednesday afterwards. I'm actually going to attempt to force myself into a 2-weekish schedule. I don't think I can go back to weekly again (need I remind you, FIVE WEBCOMICS! o.O) but every other week seems doable. I'll take a shot at it, at least :3

And if it's any consolation, the webcomics (except for one, which takes top priority) are also on an every-other week schedule, so you've been bumped up to being just as important as they are! lol yay! xD

Thusly, with business done, we shall commence :3

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Hah, I won!" Arisa chimed happily, having been the first to tag the wall of the race's destination. Kyo arrived a split second after her, and punched the wall with a grunt, since merely tagging it would do him no good.

"Those were some damn cheap-ass tricks you pulled back there, Yankee!"

"I didn't pull anything, kyon-chan." Arisa sang playfully, and with a way-too-pleasant smile to Kyo she swung herself into the arcade. Kyo lingered back, beat-red, blushing from Arisa's smile, flustered from the nickname, and still miffed about the wrongdoing he still felt Arisa _must've_ done in order to beat him.

"Yo, orangetop!"

A flustered Kyo jumped at the sudden call, looking more disheveled than before. Arisa saw his awestricken cherry of a face when she popped her head back through the door, and suddenly biting back laughter was but a futile effort.

Within a moment she found herself staggering out the door, one hand slapping heartily at her thigh while the other clutched her stomach, all in a feeble attempt to curb the laughter that poured out.

Kyo just stood there dumfounded for a moment, contemplating how to react. His knee-jerk reflex was to get angry, but he refrained from blowing up, and instead just watched Arisa laugh, and soon he found a smile crossing his face as well.

"What are you laughing at, eh?" Kyo grinned and pounced his arm around Arisa's neck, pulling a squeal from the girl and more hysterical laughter as she struggled halfheartedly to get free. He stole the opportunity to run his knuckles mercilessly through her hair, making Arisa squirm and thrash about all the more.

All at once Kyo snapped back with some sound like a gasp or a chuckle. Arisa's laughing calmed a bit as she stood up, avoiding the opportunity for Kyo to headlock her again. It took her a moment to regain her composure, but with a few more chuckles and a glance between her hand and a still slightly stunned Kyo, she cocked a grin, figuring exactly what had made Kyo squirm away from her like that. And when Kyo saw the malicious smirk in her eye, his face dropped with something like a sense of pending doom.

"Ahh, shit." He muttered. Arisa grinned, took a step forward, and lunged after him, fingers bared threateningly at the ready. Kyo swerved on his heel and ran, not planning on getting incapacitated by a girl.

"Come on, Uotani!" Kyo complained loudly, dashing into a mad sprint around a corner, "Give me a break!"

"You could stop running, you know."

"UGH! No!"

"Why's that, kyon-chan? You _tick-lish_?" Arisa sang the words as she sped up, and Kyo faltered to see that she was gaining.

"I-I am not!"

"You **_ARE_**!" The blonde squealed a little villainously - though playfully - as she pounced forward, cutting Kyo off from turning another corner.

"Arisa-!" Kyo flushed, too caught off-guard to think to run a different way.

"Gotcha! Hah!" with a grin she tackled him to the ground, sitting abruptly on his midriff to keep the flailing cat from getting up. He tamed himself, though, when he realized that he wasn't being tickled; all Arisa was doing - all it seemed she was planning to do - was batting away his arms to avoid getting thwacked. So he settled down, blinking up at Arisa, wondering for what reason she still had him pinned down, if not to tickle him senseless as he'd been expecting. He looked very confused, and admittedly flustered, while Arisa hid what thoughts were trailing through her mind behind a perplexing grin.

Kyo felt his skin grow red and something warm bustle in his chest as he watched Arisa's eyes pool and deepen, and her hair fall gently over her shoulder as she leaned subtly forward.

"Arisa..." He reached up and ran his fingers gingerly through her hair, pressing his palm softly up against her cheek. Her hand came up to graze along his, and Kyo felt warmth building up in her skin, too. Both teens smiled at each other, as Arisa leaned down, and Kyo craned his neck off the sidewalk. Arisa helped him a bit by tangling her fingers in his hair and pulling his lips to meet hers.

They staid like that a long time; Kyo pinned to the sidewalk with Arisa lounging over him, their lips meshed and melding together. People were looking at them, definitely, but the young couple didn't notice or didn't care. Their eyes were closed, their lips growing busier by the moment, tongues starting to get sloppily involved. Her hands pressed tightly into Kyo's orange hair. His meandered down through Arisa's blonde locks, spent a moment exploring her back, and finally settled on her hips.

She drew back long after the length of the kiss had been lost, her gaze looking into Kyo's eyes from but an inch away. Kyo opened his eyes slowly, a little sad that her taste was leaving his mouth.

"Wow." She whispered, grinning. Their first kiss earlier in the day had been magical, but this one had been downright _fun_. They both made mental notes to try this exchange more often.

"You've never done that before, Kyon-chan?"

Kyo nodded, and shook his head, not quite sure which would be the appropriate response. So instead, he forced himself to talk, though part of him was almost afraid that would make Arisa's taste drift away all the sooner.

"Never." he barely breathed, and Arisa smiled innocently, biting playfully down on her lip as she sat up and let Kyo relax his head back onto the sidewalk, though he was reluctant to do so.

"Me neither." she chirped, and the couple just sat there - or lay there, as in Kyo's case - gazing at each other, quite content with what had come to pass. To think, what started out so badly ended up as _this_... Kyo was almost glad they'd had that fight, because without it, he might not be enjoying the sweet taste of Arisa lingering on the edge of his tongue.

-

They hadn't made it quite to the arcade as planned, but neither seemed dissatisfied with the way the afternoon had twiddled happily away. Neither one said anything on the way to Arisa's house, but shyly mingling fingers morphed to firmly held hands, warmth still radiating from each others' skin. Arisa bumped into Kyo's shoulder a few times before deciding just to stay there, leaned up against him the rest of the way home. Kyo found himself smiling warmly as he pressed his cheek into Arisa's hair. This was... a lot different than he'd anticipated when he said yes to her last week.

Last week. Had it really been just a week ago? So much had happened - so much had changed - it felt like he'd been with Arisa for so much longer than that, but his mind didn't dwell on those thoughts for long.

Right now, immersed in Arisa's warmth and the warmth she ignited in him, he could barely grasp how he'd ever thought that closeness like this was a bad thing. Although - he bitterly reminded himself - the closest he'd ever gotten to anyone, physically like this, was Kagura, and she wasn't exactly warm about it. Arisa was the first girl to cling to his arm like she was glad he was there, instead of Kagura's usual trick of making sure he couldn't be elsewhere.

"Hey, I should probably go finish my homework." Arisa mumbled, pulling away from Kyo just slightly as they walked up to her driveway.

"Yeah...I probably have a bit of that to do myself."

"See you tomorrow then?" Arisa bit her lip, and Kyo smiled.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

The couple shared one last moment of blush-ridden smiles, before Kyo nodded and turned to start down the street. Arisa lingered on her doorstep, watching Kyo depart. To her surprise and glee, her kitten stopped at the corner to glance back, and waved and smiled when he saw her watching. She returned the gesture happily, before Kyo reluctantly turned around the corner, and Arisa slipped quietly inside.

-/-/-

"Tohru."

The girl gasped at the worried mumble of her name, and she flusteredly clutched an item to her chest, as though that would hide it - along with her tears - from her grandfather's sight.

"Tohru, what's the matter?" 

The old man walked over and sat on her bed. She was kneeling on the floor next to it, but his old joints prevented him from joining her there. He was close enough to her to put his hand on her shoulder, though, and did so. It was easy to tell that she needed some comfort; Tohru was terrible at masking when she cried.

The girl nibbled at her lip a moment. Part of her wanted to tell him that it was nothing, to make sure that he wouldn't worry. But... if he already worried anyhow... and, she wondered if he couldn't help.

With a sniff she climbed up on the bed beside him, and unfolded her hands from her chest, to show him the soft yellow hair ribbons she held there.

"These don't belong to me, grandpa." she said shakily. The old man studied them a little bewilderedly, before blinking up to Tohru.

"Whose are they?" He asked innocently. Tohru clenched her eyes shut, struggling against sobbing. He started to reach over to pull her into a hug, but she burst before his arms had reached her.

"I can't remember, grandpa!" Sobbing, she threw up an arm to wipe her face. He gently brought her arm down and pulled out a tissue to wipe off her cheeks a little more gently.

"That's all right, Tohru." he said quietly, "It's all right. You've been a bit forgetful lately-"

"No grandpa, that's not it." She shook her head lethargically, sniffing roughly again. "I know what it's like to forget things. They just slip your mind, you know?" she tried to smile and her grandpa gently nodded his head. "But then," she continued, "Later on, you can always remember what you forgot."

"Not always..." the old man chuckled lightly, making Tohru's smile a little more sincere.

"Not always." she admitted, and giggled a bit herself. "But..usually. And..this still isn't forgetting. This is.. this is _not being able to remember_." She sighed, her smile melting, and looked back down to the ribbons.

"Maybe," she whispered, "Maybe you can tell me, grandpa. Someone gave me these ribbons. ...Who was it, do you know?"

"I'm afraid I can't say I do, Tohru. I'm sorry." The old man sighed, readjusting himself on the bed. "But...there are a few things I should share with you, I think." he gently reached over and closed her hands around the ribbons, bringing her attention back up to him.

"The young man who brought you here said I shouldn't talk to you about this, but I can't see how keeping it from you is making you feel very good about things."

Tohru shook her head softly, blinking and looking rather confused. "Grandpa," she murmured, "I don't-"

"He said...there were a lot of things from this past year you wouldn't remember." the girl blinked dumbly at him, hoping that as he talked more, he'd make a little more sense.

"You see, Tohru. About a year ago...you were staying in a house with three young men. We had to do some renovations here, so you moved in there, and you liked it well enough that you staid."

...This was.._right_. But who...who were the young men she staid with? What did the house look like? She could remember what her grandfather told her, but nothing else.

Her grandpa had paused to give her a chance to soak that much in, before he continued again.

"I'm afraid I don't know many details...you mostly just wrote to me that you were happy, which is all I needed to hear. I should still have some of your letters, if you'd like me to get them for you-"

"No, that's okay grandpa." Tohru wiped one last tear away, cast a glance down to the ribbons clenched in her hands, and smiled.

"Could you ... give me the address, though? I - I'd like to visit it." 

The old man hesitated a moment, wondering if it was a good idea, but he saw the determined glint in Tohru's eye, and he couldn't see the harm - or find the will to say no.

"Sure." he nodded, and stood to guide Tohru to where he kept the address.

-/-/-

Kyo walked the rest of the way home smiling for once, a pleasant blush building up an aura around him. He'd never had such a good time with a girl before, but the fact that today happened made him feel rather optimistic about..well, everything.

That is, until he caught sight of the girl sobbing on his porch.

"Tohru!" he nearly gasped as he flopped to his knees in front of her, his happiness melting rapidly at the sight of her quivering shoulders.

She sniffed and blinked warily up to him, cheeks stained pink from tears. He reached over to brush some away, looking terribly concerned.

"K-Kyo..." she stammered, smiling a little more brightly than he'd expected, though he was glad to see the motion, even if it was made bittersweet by the ever-flowing tears and sniffles.

"What's wrong?" he mumbled, trying to smile back, but finding it rather hard with Tohru sniffling away.

"I - I miss you, Kyo." her smile faded, her eyes melting to saucers. Kyo flushed, for a few reasons. The first that he was surprised at how warm it made him feel, that Tohru cared for him enough to miss him. But also, he was much more surprised at the fact that she could _remember_ caring for him, _to_ miss him. He was pretty sure he didn't remember hearing about something like this happening with Kana.

"I - I miss you, too, Tohru." he stammered back, looking more than a little confused. Tohru should be at home..._her_ home, eating dinner with _her_ family. Why was she crying on his doorstep, when she shouldn't even remember this place existed?

"I miss _living here_, Kyo."

Even more surprising. Kyo was speechless.

"I miss...so many things." she sniffed, "...my memories..." her shoulders heaved more sobs as she rested her face into her arms, running out of steadfastness enough to talk. Kyo sighed and got up to sit on the deck beside her; tentatively put his hand on her back. It was all he could think to do to comfort her.

They sat there for a long time in silence - not counting Tohru's relentless sobs - because Kyo didn't know what to do or say. He considered going inside to get Yuki, but he found that he didn't want to leave her alone for even a moment, not like this.

"Tohru..." he reached over and grabbed her hand, and she squeaked a little as she sniffed and blinked up to him.

"Come on," he said, urging her to her feet. "Let's go inside."

"O-okay..." the girl rubbed her eyes terribly as she stood, but Kyo reached over and grabbed that hand as well, worried eyes meeting her own overflowing saucers.

"Don't try to hide this, Tohru." he said softly, "We'll go talk to Yuki, and then...we'll see how we can help."

"Y - Yuki lives here!" Tohru gasped, turning to take another look at the house. That just made her cry harder.

"Of course he does!" she grunted to herself, "I knew that...I _knew_ that! Why couldn't I remember it for myself? Why- ...why can't I remember _anything_?" the girl tore her hands away from Kyo's to cover her sobbing face. She hated that he had to see her like this, though the selfish part of her was glad he was there. She could only hope that she wasn't keeping him from doing something he needed to do.

Kyo just grit his teeth nervously. He didn't have any idea what to say. Should he tell her the truth, no doubt get in trouble with Akito? Try to cover it up and make her think she was just going crazy? He settled on the third option, which was to go to Yuki, and let him share the burden of this. He was sure that whatever he did, if he did it on his own, Yuki would yell at him for it later.

Without another word he reclaimed the hand of sniffling Tohru, and yanked her inside and upstairs, trying to get somewhere useful as fast as he could, and avoid Shigure along the way.

The teens burst very unexpectedly into Yuki's room, where the boy sat on his bed reading peacefully. He blinked up from his book, annoyed that he was being interrupted by Kyo, but as soon as he saw Tohru he tossed the book aside and rushed over, setting one hand on her shoulder and using the other to wipe gently at her tears.

"What did you do to her?" Yuki suddenly glowered to Kyo, who bared his fists immediately in protest.

"She was like this on the porch when I got here!" he shouted defensively, "I didn't do anything!"

"He really didn't..." Tohru interjected softly, and drew Yuki's attention back to her, bringing his mindset from accusatory back to compassionate rather quickly.

"What's wrong, Tohru?" he prompted hastily, ushering her over to his bed to sit down, "Don't tell me that uncle of yours-"

"No," Tohru smiled a little, letting Yuki continue to pad off her cheeks with a tissue he'd snagged from the box by his bed, "Everyone's been really nice to me."

"You said that last time." Yuki couldn't help mumbling, though he'd meant not to say it out loud.

"Last time..." Tohru repeated in a whisper. But of course, her eyes just started welling up again.

"Last time." she struggled through warbles, sobs threatening to break through.

"I - I can't remember last time. Last time I left?" she asked Yuki, grabbing onto the shoulders of his shirt almost desperately, "Last time I wasn't living here - with you?"

"Yes." Yuki whispered to her, gently caressing her hands from his shirt to hold them tightly in his lap.

"Y-Yuki..." Tohru sniffed, and Yuki reached up to caress her cheek and brush back her hair. This was so beyond Akito's lenience, he knew that, but whatever that bastard did to him later was well worth comforting Tohru now.

"Yes?" he whispered peacefully, sensing that Tohru needed a prompt to go on.

"I remember it."

Her sniffles softened a bit, and now her voice was even quieter than his. Yuki drew his face closer, bringing up his other hand to her other cheek, gingerly wiping her tears with his thumbs. Tohru nuzzled into the embrace, her fingers tugging longingly at the front of Yuki's shirt.

She should have felt like she had overstepped her bounds a long time ago, but this all felt so natural, and right. She remembered Yuki touching her like this before. Just an hour ago she thought Yuki Souma was a prince out of her reach. But now emotions came flooding back to her that before, she only dimply imagined were there. That door was slowly opening again, and she was trying so, so hard not to let it close. Not again.

"...Can you tell me about it, Miss Honda?"

Yuki's voice and touch here both soft and tender and calm, trying their best to give Tohru comfort, difficult as that seemed to be. Tohru just sniffed and gazed hazily at the fingers that still tugged at Yuki's shirt. He wasn't paying much attention to them, just Tohru's face. He watched her intently, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs whenever a new flood of tears would slide down. All at once a smile slipped onto her face - though timid, at best - and she chuckled a little forcibly, sniffing again, still training her eyes on her fingers, too shy to meet Yuki's gaze.

"They really are being nice to me this time, Yuki." She forced another chuckle, making Yuki's heart lurch. He wished she wouldn't try to feign happy.

"I think," she sniffed, "They're worried."

Yuki just kept wiping her tears and caressing her face, for lack of anything better to do. At least Tohru seemed warmed by the touch, and that relaxed him a bit, to know that he was helping. He just wished he could help more.

"I'm worried too, Yuki. I'm scared." Her smile melted away, and the girl whimpered on the edge of sobs again. Yuki wanted to hold her so badly.

"Why am I so - _defective_?" she cried, wringing her hands around the slack in Yuki's shirt. He felt rather glad that he'd changed into a tee, though a wrinkled shirt was the least of his problems.

"You're not defective, Tohru." Yuki's face drew closer as he spoke softly, their foreheads almost bumping. He wanted to kiss her, but he held back. Now seemed like a wholly inappropriate time for that.

"Then..why can't I remember anything, Yuki? Why did it take me so long to remember than I love you?" her teary saucer-bowl eyes finally rose to meet Yuki's gaze. His whole face melted to get such a good look at the mess Tohru's crying had made.

Moreover, his heart thumped loudly when the meaning of Tohru's words truly reached him.

"Tohru, I-" He stammered, flustered, coherent thoughts escaping him. He felt like he should explain to her the situation - give her a way to know that the memory loss wasn't her fault or something defective about her - but he couldn't find the words. He didn't even know if he said "Hatori," or "Akito," or "curse," that she'd understand him. So somehow, while his brain was trying fruitlessly to think, his mouth ran for him in the absence of coherent direction.

"I love you, too."

The girl just sniffed in response, but Yuki thought he saw a warm glint in her eye that made him slip on a timid smile. The riceball closed her eyes and nuzzled her cheek into the palm of Yuki's hand, letting a smile slip onto her face as well, though a little bitterly.

"How could I even forget something like that?"

She whimpered, and drew closer to Yuki, so that their foreheads bumped. Her eyes were closed, and his drifted shut as he bridged the distance between their lips. His hands moved back to brush through Tohru's hair, and her hands relaxed, releasing Yuki's shirt to travel around to his back. She remembered doing this before, too, though she thought that the first time could be described as a little more modest. This one made her feel just as warm, though, and she felt herself melting eagerly into his embrace.

Maybe a little _too_ eagerly.

Yuki hadn't the time nor capacity to think. All he knew was Tohru's lips on his, and the arms slinking ever-tighter around him were just some dim warmth he was becoming a part of. He became quite aware of them, however, when his kiss was rudely interrupted by a loud familiar poof.

"Ah, Yuki!" Tohru squealed, looking down helplessly at the clothes suddenly strewn about the bed.

"I'm here, Miss honda." The rat mumbled, working his way diligently out from under his shirt. Tohru blinked at the creature that wriggled out onto the bed. They were both quiet for a long moment, before Tohru smiled bitterly and let out a sigh.

"I hugged you." she muttered, "I'm sorry. I - _forgot_."

"That's all right, Miss Honda." Yuki sighed in return, "_I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you, not when you're like this."

"That's okay." Tohru's bitterness left her smile, though she stole a moment to sniff and wipe her eyes. "It helped." Yuki's little rat-eyes just watered while Tohru gingerly reached over to pick him up. "Thank you."

"I'm - ... I'm glad I could help." Yuki simply nodded, closing his eyes. On cue, of course, the poof sounded, and Tohru squealed loudly, rushing to jump off the bed and look the other way.

"Heh, heh..." she stammered a little forcibly, "almost forgot about that too!" Yuki just chuckled lightly as he moved casually - though hastily, so not as to make Tohru wait - to get his clothes back on.

"M-maybe that's my cue to leave..." Tohru stammered, and before Yuki could comment, she added, "My grandpa's probably getting worried."

"All right." Yuki sighed passively as he finished slipping on his shirt, and walked over to press his hands on her shoulders and let her know he was decent. She turned to say goodbye, but before she could stammer out an ado, Yuki gently tipped up her chin and stole her lips for a quick tender kiss, leaving Tohru as pink and flustered as ever.

"If it's all right, Miss Honda...I'll walk you to school tomorrow. And ... I'll explain what I can then."

"O-okay." Tohru stammered, nodding dimly. "Tomorrow, then."

"Yeah."

Yuki warmly clasped her hand and lead her downstairs. It occurred to him to wonder where Kyo had disappeared to, but he figured the answer was obvious, and he made a note to make a visit after he saw Tohru off.

"It's...getting dark." he observed softly as he and Tohru stepped out onto the porch.

"Pretty sunset." Tohru whispered, and Yuki nodded absently before gazing down to her.

"You'll be all right getting home? I can walk you if-"

"That's okay, Yuki." Tohru shook her head, looking up to give him a smile. "You've done a lot for me tonight. Thank you." she bowed deeply, and Yuki smiled.

"I'm just glad you're not crying anymore."

"All thanks to you and Kyo!" she chirped happily, but all at once gasped as the name slipped out. "Oh, Kyo! I hope he didn't feel ignored, or like he wasn't helping! Oh, Yuki, I completely tossed him aside, I have to go tell him thank you!"

"I'm sure he can hear you, Tohru." Yuki smiled calmly, cupping her rosy cheek in his hand. "If he was too dense to listen just now, you can always thank him at school tomorrow."

"O-okay." Tohru sighed, hoping Kyo wasn't moping too much on her account. She felt very selfish, barging in on their evening and making it all about her. But both of the boys, she felt, had been very patient with her, and not only was she warmed by their compassion, but she was relieved, because she could _remember_. Not everything - there were a lot of hazy patches in the past year - but she had a much better picture now, and Yuki's promise to explain some things had her looking forward to tomorrow. Maybe then, life would make a little more sense.

-

Kyo was indeed on the roof, gazing stiffly at the ladder when Yuki emerged over the top, and the boys stared at each other for a while, before Yuki finally closed the distance and sat down beside him.

"So, what's up?" It sounded snappy and bitter, but in truth, Kyo was incredibly proud that he'd refrained from uttering ëwhat the fuck do you want, rat-boy?' Because...he'd really wanted to. But he was starting to learn that treating Yuki decently got him the same respect, and especially on a night when Tohru was the subject, he didn't want to miss out on something on account of his short temper.

"I'm not really sure." Yuki sighed, "Miss Honda...I think she's struggling to get her memories back. Very hard."

"This is so..messed up." Kyo grunted, running his fingers a little maliciously through his hair to blow off some steam. "Has anything like this ever happened before?"

"No," Yuki shook his head, "Not that Hatori would tell me."

At that, Kyo couldn't help himself - he rose quickly to his feet, fists bared.

"You told Hatori!"

"Yes." Yuki bit back his argumentativeness, though he was peeved that kyo didn't look like he was even attempting to do the same.

"Are you crazy!" Kyo barked, "He'll tell Akito!"

"Akito's bound to find out anyway. He always does."

"Because **someone** always tells HATORI!"

"You give him a lot less credit than he's worth, Kyo."

"And you give him too much. Just watch, tomorrow we'll get home from school and find out that Akito wants to see her. What do you think'll happen then? Akito'll just say ëoh well,' and open his arms and welcome her into the family? What the _fuck_ do you think is going to happen, ya damn rat?"

"...Hatori was the one most likely to be able to help her." Yuki glared, but remained stiff, in order to remain calm. He didn't want to fight with Kyo, not tonight.

"_Help her_," The cat scoffed, "He was the one who erased her memories in the first place!"

"He didn't have a choice, you stupid cat." Yuki scowled defensively.

"Well, what makes you think he'll have a choice _this _time then, huh?"

Admittedly, to that, Yuki could only grit his teeth. In his cousin's silence Kyo cursed loudly to himself, punching at the air, pulling at his scalp. Figures - he finally makes the day a good one, and then something like _this_ happens, and then Yuki goes and makes it worse.

Finally, with several minutes of silence from Yuki, Kyo was able to calm down, and sloughed back onto the roof, though a little farther away than before, muttering obscenities to himself.

"I'm sorry." Yuki sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "I thought that talking to Hatori would help."

"Yeah, well-" Kyo huffed, still rather snappy. There was the surprise of Yuki's humble tone, though, and that made him feel a little more docile. "I hope...it turns out okay."

"...Hey, stupid cat." Kyo scoffed a grin at the nickname - used much more endearingly now than it had been a few moments before.

"What is it, ya damn rat?"

"You heard Tohru on the porch?" Kyo nodded, suddenly looking a little flushed. Yuki smiled faintly, making the cat mildly confused, or rather disoriented.

"Good." he said, and started towards the ladder, mumbling to himself hazily - "Because I'm not sure she'd remember to tell you tomorrow."

Kyo grunted and turned to ask the rat what in the hell he meant by that, but Yuki had already disappeared below the ladder.

Huffing, Kyo laid himself back on the roof, trying to put the events of the evening behind him. For now, he'd just watch the sunset as the orange faded into indigo, and the light slipped below the horizon; and he'd close his eyes to think of Arisa, and look forward to when she could warm him again tomorrow.


	17. Bruises

OH EM GEE could this really be...AN UPDATE?!

I know, I know, I've been crap about this :P It's just...when you can't think of anything to write...it's hard to write anything xP And I would try to console you, that my muse seems to be slipping back to me, but this may just be the bout of boredom that comes with being sick. Plus, I've made promises about update schedules in the past that I simply haven't kept -.- (if it's any consolation, though, them webcomics I mentioned haven't been kept up, either)

Regardless, here IS an update, and there WILL be more in the future...I just can't garentee when :P I really am sorry that I fail at punctuality xP

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

"Kyo-o!" Shigure's voice rang obnoxiously cheerful as it carried up the stairs, Kyo twinged and finished pulling on his shirt.

"What the hell do you want?"

"You have a lovely young lady visitor! You shouldn't keep such a pretty girl waiting, Kyon-kyon."

Kyo blinked, suddenly tripping over his cargo pants as he pulled them up. He felt a little flustered, the thoughts _'why is she picking **me** up? Is something wrong?' _and _'Thank god she's here.'_ coming to mind all at once. He rammed his shoulder a little roughly into the wall as he pulled on a jacket over his shirt on his way downstairs, shoes still in hand.

He got about two inches away from the girl's face – intending to give her a kiss to let her know how _good_ it was to see her this morning – before he realized that the hair color was brown, and that this wasn't Arisa at all. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he cringed backward, not wanting to see the boar at all at this particular moment. He felt a little miffed at Shigure as well. What was it with that damn mutt and leading him on like that?

"Oh, my dear, sweet Kyo!" Kagura wailed as she flung herself into Kyo's arms, latching around his neck a little too tightly for comfort. "I'm soooo happy to see you!" She laid a wet kiss on his cheek, and his gut lurched, disgusted. He so didn't want to do this right now.

"Shigure had me worried that you'd disappeared again and I wouldn't see you, and then I was so scared that if we didn't go soon Akito would change his mind and –"

Kyo simply pressed a finger to the girl's lips to make her shut up. Much more squealing from the boar was likely to make his head explode. Grunting, he shoved roughly out of her arms and made his way towards the door as quickly as he could, trying fruitlessly to outrun the boar.

"KYOOO!" Kagura wailed, latching onto his arm just as he was reaching to slide open the door. "Where are you going, my love? You promised you'd marry me, and we have a chance, my darling! Akito's going to allow it!"

"I don't care, Kagura." Kyo glared at her as he tore his arm away and marched out the door, though the boar still followed. "I have to go to school."

"But…my love, school doesn't start _yet_! We have time to savor the moment, and – and to be happy! …Why aren't you_ happy_, Kyo?"

"I have to go, Kagura. I have to go see someone before school starts."

Kagura stopped in her tracks, her breath escaping her. Of course, she made the obvious assumption, which just so happened to be correct.

"You're seeing another woman, aren't you?!"

"YES, I'm seeing another woman, Kagura. So just shut up and GO AWAY!"

The boar grew silent, her eyes welling up. How..how could he do this to her? After she worked so hard to love him, he just tosses her aside for some woman that he can't even hug? She didn't understand. He should love her, and he should want to take Akito's offer to finally, truly _be_ with her. Kyo'd always wanted Akito to accept him – to stop calling him a monster. Why the change?

"Who is it?" she demanded suddenly, her own eyes growing a little darker. If Kyo was thinking straight he probably would've run, but his head wasn't exactly clear just then, and he wasn't in the mood for being a pussy and running away. He just wanted Kagura to get off his back. He wanted her to get the message already and just _go away_.

"It's none of your business, Kagura. I don't have to tell you anything – I don't have to let you be a part of my life. You should do yourself a favor and push your love on someone who _wants_ it."

"How **dare** you!" The boar grappled the collar of the cat's shirt, her free fist clutching tight at her side. "I gave you anything a man could ever want!" His shoulder was suddenly very sore as the girl pounded her fist into him, and then again in his gut, making his vision rear over. "And you repay me by cheating, a-and just telling me to get out of your life?"

A kick to the leg followed, sending Kyo wincing down to one knee, still clutching his gut out of shock from the previous blow. "How is that fair to me, Kyo? You're never, ever fair to me! I pour my heart and soul into being the best woman I can be for you, and you always just push me away!" Fists bore down on his back, in his side, and Kyo simply coughed, shocked, too out of it to fight back.

A particularly stinging punch hit the side of his head, and Kyo found himself spinning violently to the side, sloughing roughly onto the grass behind him, a bitch of a headache building up from the soon-to-be bruise. Before he had time to recover the boar leapt ontop of him, fists wailing on his chest and sides, knocking the air from his lungs in painful jerks.

"Say you'll come see Akito with me, Kyo! Say you'll tell that bitch it's over, and that you'll stop running away from things that are good for you! Say that you love me, Kyo –!"

"Kagura." A strong voice rang out from the house, and the girl blinked to the doorway where Shigure stood, smiling, but with a reprimanding glint in his eye. Her gut sank as she grew suddenly aware of the fists she brazened, which she knew Shigure was looking at.

"How about you come inside and get a bite to eat?"

Kyo gasped as silently as he could to get his air back as the boar slipped off of him, taking a few timid steps towards Shigure.

"I-I'm sorry!" she cried, turning suddenly back to Kyo. He froze half-way through the motion of sitting up, bracing himself in case she started wailing on him again. But she looked terribly sad now, the frightening glint in her eye subsided. "I'm so sorry." She sniffed roughly, cast a glance back to Shigure, and then took off running into the woods, sobs echoing back to the somber men hanging about the house.

"I'm sorry, too." Shigure murmured, walking over to offer Kyo a hand up. The cat slapped the hand away and glared at Shigure, groaning slightly on his way to his feet – _without_ the mutt's help. The dog forced a dry chuckle, while his hand reached up to rub the back of his head, eyes vaguely following the cat as he stormed into the house.

"I didn't know it would go that way."

He sighed, knowing full well that Kyo hadn't heard him. With a lingering glance towards where Kagura took off, he finished brushing fingers through his hair, and followed Kyo inside.

The cat had made his way to the kitchen, chugging down milk to drown his mood. Shigure knew better than to confront him again, so he slipped silently into his study. He didn't anticipate the cat showing up just a few minutes later, eyebrow raised.

"Did Yuki leave already?" Shigure nodded, faintly glancing off to the side.

"Out the door before you even woke up. Impressive, I know. My guess is he's got a lot to talk with Torhu about."

Kyo frowned, and marched out the door.

-/-/-

"Uh, hello there." Yuki blinked dumbly at the old man that greeted him. He looked rather somber, like something was wrong, and Yuki's gut twisted.

"I-is Tohru here?" Her grandfather nodded, but didn't move from the door, and Yuki squirmed inside during the brief moment of silence before he explained.

"She's not feeling well, though. I'm making her stay home and rest so that she doesn't tire herself out. You understand, she has a tendency to push herself when she shouldn't."

"Yes," Yuki sighed and gently rubbed at the back of his neck, nodding lightly. "Yes, she does." He started to turn to walk away from the porch, but he felt the old man still watching him, and he paused to blink over his shoulder, giving the man a silent invitation to go on.

"You should come by after school." The man nodded insistently, "I think it's time we all sit down and talk about a few things."

Yuki's gut twisted again. That did not sound good. The old man seemed to catch the notion, though, and his face softened as he lightly shook his head.

"I'm not mad, son. I just think…it would be better for Tohru if you let us know what was going on. I can't pretend nothing's wrong, and I don't know what to tell her. You do, so...yes, I think it would be best to come by after school. Will you?" At that the rat couldn't do anything but nod, and let out a shallow sigh.

"I will, sir." He mumbled, and turned quickly to hide his face as he made his way down the driveway and onward towards school. He could still feel the man's gaze lingering on him as he strode down the street, and Yuki couldn't help feeling chastised. He supposed he would have to tell him, though. Worst-case scenario he'd get a _talking-to_ by Akito, and Hatori would erase the grandfather's memories as well.

-/-/-

"What's up with you?" Kyo timidly approached his cousin in the locker room, noticing rather easily that the rat was off in the corner looking distraught. The silver -haired prince blinked vaguely up, not bothering to lift his chin from his neatly folded hands. He looked like he was about to answer, but his brow drew together when he laid eyes on Kyo.

"What's up with _you_?" He raised an eyebrow, lacing his gaze over Kyo's black eye and bruised cheek, along with some faint red marks scaling his arms. "You look terrible."

"I..sort of told Kagura I was seing someone else." the cat grumbled, kicking his feet off to the side. Yuki just stared for a moment, before lowering his eyes back to the floor.

"Didn't take it well?"

The cat shook his head, and the boys lingered in silence for a moment, before Kyo pressed his original point.

"So...what's you with you?" he insisted again, and Yuki sighed, shaking his head.

"Tohru's grandfather said she was staying home today. He wants me to drop by after school, and _talk_ about ... things." Kyo paled, feeling Yuki's apprehension.

"You can't." Kyo murmured uneasily. "You can't just...waltz around _telling_ people about the curse. Akito would-"

"Shut up." Yuki groaned and slid his chin down between his arms, cradling his head between agitated fingers. "I haven't got a choice. What do you think Akito'll do if Tohru keeps on like this, anyway? Maybe if I just talk to her- ...maybe we can figure something out."

"God, I hope so." Kyo grunted and bumped his fist against the locker next to him.

"We should get to class." Yuki sighed as he stood, and Kyo nodded hazily, following lethargically after the Prince.

-/-/-

Cat and Rat both gazed morbidly to Tohru's empty desk as they walked into the room. Arisa greeted them brightly, and eagerly slunk her arm around Kyo's. The cat smiled vaguely and moved subtly closer to her, and Yuki found himself burning with a dim envy as he observed the warm aura around them. He wanted to twine arms with Tohru.

"...Why the long faces?" Arisa pulled slightly away from Kyo and blinked between the cousins, noting easily that neither had said a word in a rather awkward amount of time. Yuki averted his eyes, and Kyo let out a nervous sigh.

"Tohru." the cat said. "She's home sick. We can't help being worried."

"Of course." Arisa nodded and sobered up a little bit; she'd been worried herself. She cast a quick glance behind her to the room, and let her vision dance briefly over the empty desks before turning back to the cousins. "Hana's gone, too." Kyo craned his neck to see the second empty desk Arisa referred to, and he grew even more downcast. Hana's absense ontop of Tohru's illness and the pending _talk_ with her grandfather had both the cat and the rat up in shambles.

Plus, Kyo had Kagura on his mind. He really ought to tell Arisa about that.

A long moment of silence was passed about them, and before inspiration struck to change that, the teacher walked in, set her books firmly down on her desk, and glared at the back of the room, where the three fanclub girls were talking up a storm.

The room fell silent, and students uneasily shifted to their desks, and Kyo couldn't help murmuring;

"Great. Not even Sensei's in a good mood."

-/-/-

Hana took her time getting ready in the morning. She slept in a bit and endulged in a long, hot shower. Her mother had been skeptical when Hatori called, but the children managed to convince her of how important this visit was. They were both careful not to utter too many details, and they both feigned faces of excitement, difficult as that was. Inside Hana was filled with dread, and already she found herself hovering closely to her brother, protectively, her stomach sickened with the thought of Akito laying eyes upon him again.

The two children were quiet once they were downstairs, and ate breakfast peacefully. Their mother asked a few more questions about this man that they were going to go see, and the children did their best to answer respectfully without giving anything inappropriate away.

They both lingered outside for only a moment before Hatori's car pulled into their driveway, and they bid ado to their mother before climbing in.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that he's in a good mood." Hatori said earnestly as he pulled the car out. Hana nodded.

"I wouldn't expect him to be."

Megumi seemed a little less sure, though; there was something that Hatori and Saki both knew which he didn't.

"Why does Akito want to talk to us now? I thought we'd be seeing him next week."

"Something's come up." Hatori answered off-handedly, but Saki rolled her eyes; no way was she keeping her brother in the dark.

"Akito had Tohru's memories erased, so that she doesn't know about the Soumas and their curse." Megumi nodded absently; Hana had mentioned something about that. She went on. "However, Tohru's remembering things."

"And that's not supposed to happen." Hatori uttered, a bit of an edge to his voice. Hana's face suddenly shaped to pity; it wasn't difficult to discern that Akito blamed Hatori for this. Plus, now that she looked over Hatori again, she saw a faint bruise showing under his eye.

"Akito's...panicking." Megumi observed lightly, and the air in the car seemed to thicken. Moreso when Megumi went on. "He's afraid."

"Best keep that thought to yourself, Megu." Hana said softly. She hated to think what Akito would do in an attempt to counteract such an assertion. Hatori nodded in agreement.

"As I said, he's not in the best of moods. You'll do well to avoid making it worse." Megumi nodded; Saki hesitated. Of course she'd do what she could to avoid angering him, but she knew that was going to be a rather difficult task - _especially_ with him already in a disagreeable mood. Her stomach rolled over uneasily; this was not going to be a pleasant visit at all.

-/-/-

"Hanajima Saki and Hanajima Megumi." Hatori introduced the children humbly and with a bow of his head.

Saki looked around. It was dark, and dreary, and most of all lonesome, just as she remembered it. Akito's figure lingered sprawled out on his throne of sorts at the front. She hated to admit it, but even trying this enhanced gift she believed Akito had given her, she couldn't discern what he was thinking, or even where the attention of his eyes lay; even with light streaming in the lone window, it was too dark to discern that through sight alone.

Megumi sat off to the other side of Hatori, watching silently. Hana thought he seemed so very calm, she was tempted to be a little weirded out by it. On her part, she knew her stomach was churning over with anxiety and agitation. But then again, she thought, perhaps Megumi's was too, and perhaps they were both doing as good a job concealing it from eachother as they were from Akito.

She could only hope so.

"Hatori," Akito's voice barked angrily, and Saki nearly flinched; she thought she saw Hatori do the same. "Leave us." The dragon seemed relieved at first, and then anxious again.

"Akito-" but he was cut off. The figure at the front of the room stood, and Saki thought she could make out a terrible scowl in the sillhouette against the streaming window light. That alone was enough to cause Hatori to silence himself, bow his head, and get up to leave.

The door slid shut and the room echoed with silence. Saki called up the brief glimpse she'd been able to make out of Akito's face, and was sure it was aimed directly at her. Akito already seemed fond enough of her brother not to toss him the same disdainful expression.

The crippled god moved forward, dropping onto a knee infront of Saki in the blink of an eye, and Saki admittedly shrunk back. She hated the feeling of Akito so intrusively in her bubble.

"It's your doing, isn't it?" Akito barked, and Saki felt sickened at his hot breath against her face, refusing to give her and inch of space to breath.

"I haven't done a thing." Saki protested, "And Hatori did his job just like he's always done. There's no one to point a finger at except yourself. You shouldn't have taken her memory."

"And who in the hell do you think you are to tell **me** what I should or should not do, you uppity little _bitch_?"

His hand sent a terrible sting over her cheek, with force great enough to toss her to the side, forcing the girl to shove her hands against the floor to catch herself. She staid leaning to the side for a moment, lifting one hand to touch and calm the sting the slap left in its wake.

"You're the only one who could've done it. Everything else is the same; nothing has changed but _**you**. _You've ruin _everything_!"

Saki considered mentioning her brother, out of sheer indignance, but thought she better not. Of course, she nearly thought better of what she said in place, but simply couldn't stop herself. She turned and glared back at Akito, doing well to steady her hand and not strike him back.

"Did you ever stop to think that it was Tohru? That maybe she _wants_ to remember? That maybe she never wanted to forget?"

"That shouldn't make a difference." Akito hissed and snatched painfully at the roots of Saki's hair, pulling her close to him and making her wince. "We're cursed but we're powerful. We have power over her. I have power. She'll forget if I want her to."

"So then why hasn't she forgotten?"

"Because of **_you_**!" he backhanded her again – _hard­ _– and Saki found herself sprawling to the floor, try though she did to avoid it. "I'm asking one more time, Hanajima. What did you do?" Akito briskly moved over and straddled her, pinning her to the floor, glaring viciously into her indignant, narrowed eyes.

Saki panicked for a moment; she felt a terrible headache coming over her, and she recognized that look in his eye. Dear god, he meant to do it. She was dead.

"Akito-sama." Megumi's voice rang calmly and split the tension in two. Akito couldn't help but cast his attention up to the boy, who blinked smoothly to him, honest and serious and most of all respectful, which calmed Akito a lot.

"Saki and I haven't done anything. We don't know any more about Tohru's memories than you do."

The god huffed and looked down to Saki, who still glared at him indignantly, expertly hiding her lingering vertigo. With a grunt he backhanded her again and pushed himself to his feet, marching back over towards his throne.

Saki sighed quietly in relief to have her space back, and for that murderous look in his eye to have subsided. She reached her hand back up to comfort her cheek as she pushed herself upright again, turning her eyes back to Akito, who stood tensely at the head of the room.

Silence deadened their ears, and Saki hated how Akito held them in the palm of his hand; she wanted to storm out, right then, and deny that he held power over her, but instead she and Megu lay in wait, anxious to hear Akito speak.

"Find out what's done this." He barked over his shoulder. "I can forgive you, Saki. Give me a reason to."

Saki nodded resentfully, and Akito called Hatori in to take them back home.

...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-...-

Not terribly long, I know xP But I figured you guys would want something after all this time... I'll try to buckle down and write more often. xP


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